D 


r  W_L 

IRDS 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


THE  CHILDEEN'S  BOOK  OF  BIEDS 


P.ARN  SWALLOW 


THE  CHILDREN'S 
BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

BY 

OLIVE  THORNE  MILLER 


WITH  SIXTEEN  COLORED  PLATES  AND 
MANY  OTHER  ILLUSTRATIONS 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 

(Cfte  fiitiersibe  press  Cambribge 


COPYRIGHT,   1899  AND    IQOI,   BY  H.   M.   MILLER 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


PREFACE 

THE  CHILDREN'S  BOOK  OP  BIRDS  combines 
under  a  single  cover  the  First  and  Second  Books 
of  Birds,  originally  published  in  1899  and  1901 
respectively  and  still  popular  with  children  in 
and  out  of  school  and  with  other  beginners  in 
the  study  of  birds. 

The  book  is  intended  to  interest  young  peo- 
ple in  the  ways  and  habits  of  birds  and  to  stim- 
ulate them  to  further  study.  It  has  grown  out 
of  my  experience  in  talking  to  schools.  From 
the  youngest  kindergarten  scholar  to  boys  and 
girls  of  sixteen  and  eighteen,  I  have  never  failed 
to  find  young  people  intensely  interested  so  long 
as  I  would  tell  them  about  how  the  birds  live. 

Some  of  the  results  of  these  talks  that  have 
come  to  my  knowledge  have  been  astonishing 
and  far-reaching,  such  as  that  of  one  boy  of 
seven  or  eight,  who  persuaded  the  village  boys 
around  his  summer  home  to  give  up  taking  eggs 


vi  PREFACE 

and  killing  birds,  and  watch  them  instead,  and 
who  was  dubbed  "Professor"  by  his  eager  fol- 
lowers. The  effect  has  always  been  to  make 
children  love  and  respect  the  living  bird. 

It  has  therefore  seemed  to  me  that  what  is 
needed  at  first  is  not  the  science  of  ornithology, 
—  however  diluted, —  but  some  account  of  the 
life  and  habits,  to  arouse  sympathy  and  interest 
in  the  living  bird,  neither  as  a  target  nor  as  a 
producer  of  eggs,  but  as  a  fellow-creature  whose 
acquaintance  it  would  be  pleasant  to  make. 

Naturally  I  have  drawn  on  my  own  observa- 
tions for  much  of  the  matter  contained  in  this 
book,  but  these  have  been  supplemented  by  con- 
sultation of  recognized  authorities  in  the  various 
fields  of  ornithology. 

In  each  bird  family  treated  of  in  the  Second 
Book  I  have  given  accounts  of  species  to  be 
found  in  the  South  and  West  as  well  as  in  the 
Eastern  States,  and  I  have  selected  the  most 
common  or  typical  species  of  each  family.  In 
cases  where  it  was  possible,  I  have  chosen  species 
represented  in  the  different  sections  of  the  coun- 
try, not  only  because  the  family  traits  are  better 
shown,  but  because  it  is  more  encouraging  to  a 


PREFACE  vii 

beginner  to  become  acquainted  with  birds  he  can 
see  almost  anywhere.  When  familiar  with  these, 
he  will  be  able  to  identify  and  study  the  rarer 
species. 

OLIVE  THORNE  MILLER. 


CONTENTS 

FIRST  BOOK 

I.  WHAT  YOU  WANT  TO  KNOW       .        ,        .        ,        .      1 
II.  WHEN  THEY  COME  IN  THE  SPRING        •        .        »          3 

THE   NESTLING 

III.  THE  BIRD'S  HOME     .        .        »       .       •  .        .9 

IV.  THE  BABY  BIRD    .  .         .        .        ,  •        .         13 

V.  How  HE  is  FED        •  .        «  '      ,        ,        »,  .....       .     17 

VI.  His  FIRST  SUIT      .  .        .        .        *    .  .        .         21 

VII.    HOW   HE    CHANGES   HIS   CLOTHES  ,  ,  *  .25 

VIII.  His  FIRST  FLIGHT          .        .        ...        .         29 

IX.  His  EDUCATION      ....        f        .        .        »        .     33 

X.  SOME  OF  HIS  LESSONS  »        .        .  37 

THE  BIRD  GROWN  UP 

XI.  THE  BIRD'S  LANGUAGE     '.        .        .        «        .        .43 
XII.  WHAT  HE  EATS 48 

XIII.  MORE  ABOUT  HIS  FOOD      .        .        ...        .52 

XIV.  WHERE  HE  SLEEPS 57 

XV.  His  TRAVELS 61 

XVI.  His  WINTER  HOME 66 

XVII.  His  FAMILY  AND  FRIENDS          .        .        .        .        .70 
XVIII.  His  KINDNESS  TO  OTHERS      .         .         ...        .         74 

XIX.  His  AFFECTIONS          . 78 

XX.  His  INTELLIGENCE          .        .        .    '  V       .        *-        83 

HOW  HE  IS   MADE 

XXI.  His  BODY 91 

XXII.  His  BEAK  AND  TONGUE 95 

XXIII.  His  EYES  AND  EARS 100 

XXIV.  His  FEET  AND  LEGS 105 

XXV.  His  WINGS  AND  TAIL  .  109 


c  CONTENTS 

XXVI.  His  DBESS       .        .        .        ...       V       .  114 

XXVII     DirFEBENT   OOLOEED   SUITS  .  .  .  *          118 


HIS  RELATIONS  WITH   US 
XXVIII.  How  HE  WOKKS  FOB  us 125 

XXIX.    HOW   TO   ATTBACT   HIM   ABOUT   OUB  HOMES              .          131 
XXX.   HOW   TO   STUDY   HIM 136 


SECOND  BOOK 

I.  WHAT  is  A  BIBD  FAMILY?    .        ,        .'~     *        .  .1 

II.  THE  THBUSH  FAMILY        .        .        .        .        .        .  5 

American  Robin 6 

Hermit  Thrush 11 

III.  THE  KINGLET  AND  GNATCATCHEB  FAMILY   .        .  .14 

Ruby-crowned  Kinglet   ......  14 

Blue-gray  Gnatcatcher 16 

IV.  THE  NUTHATCH  AND  CHICKADEE  FAMILY         .        .  18 

White-breasted  Nuthatch  .  .'...'  .18 

Red-breasted  Nuthatch  .  .  .  .  20 

Chickadee V  •  .22 

Tufted  Titmouse     .         .         .        *        »        *        .  24 

V.  THE  CBEEPEB  FAMILY  .         .        .        *        .        .  .27 

Brown  Creeper 27 

VI.  THE  CAVE-DWELLING  FAMILY  (First  Branch)  .  .  30 

House  Wren 31 

VII.  THE  CAVE-DWELLING  FAMILY  (Second  Branch)  .  .  34 

Mockingbird »  .  34 

Catbird »  .  .37 

Thrasher .  40 

VIII.  THE  DIPPEB  FAMILY  .  .  .  ..  »  »  .42 

American  Dipper 42 

IX.  THE  WAGTAIL  FAMILY 46 

Sprague's  Pipit        .         .                 .        .        ,        .  46 

X.  THE  WABBLEB  FAMILY          .        .        .        .        .  .49 

Yellow  Warbler  .  .  .  ....  50 

Oven-bird ..52 

Yellow-breasted  Chat 53 

XI.  THE  VIBEO  FAMILY  .    55 


CONTENTS 


XI 


Yellow-throated  Vireo 56 

Warbling  Vireo 57 

XII.  THE  SHRIKE  FAMILY 59 

Loggerhead  Shrike 59 

XIII.  The  WAXWINQ  FAMILY 63 

Cedar-bird 63 

Phainopepla 67 

XIV.  THE  SWALLOW  FAMILY 69 

Barn  Swallow 69 

Cliff  Swallow,  or  Eave  Swallow        .         .         .         .72 

Purple  Martin 72 

XV.  THE  TANAQEB  FAMILY 75 

Scarlet  Tanager   .         .        .        •        .        .        .         75 
Summer  Tanager     .         .        .     .   «         .         .         .78 

Louisiana  Tanager       ,        .'       .     ;    »        •        «         78 
XVI.  THE  SPARROW  AND  FINCH  FAMILY    .        .        .        .80 

SPARROWS 

Song  Sparrow  ,        •    -    •        .        .        .         81 

FINCHES 

Goldfinch     .        .        .        .'*'      „        .        .        .82 

Towhee,  or  Chewink         ...        ^        .         84 
XVII.  THE  GROSBEAK  BRANCH    .        .        ....        .    86 

Rose-breasted  Grosbeak      ...        .        .         86 

Black-headed  Grosbeak  .         .         .         .         ,        .88 

Cardinal  Grosbeak,  or  Cardinal  .         .         .        .         88 

XVIII.  THE  CROSSBILL  BRANCH .91 

American  Crossbill      .         .         .         .         .        .         91 

White-winged  Crossbill    .         .         .         .         .         .92 

XIX.  THE  BLACKBIRD  FAMILY 94 

MARSH  BLACKBIRDS 

Red-winged  Blackbird 94 

Cowbird 98 

XX.  THE  MEADOW  STARLINGS 100 

Meadowlark     .         ...         .         .         .       100 

Western  Meadowlark 102 

XXI.  THE  ORIOLE  BRANCH      .        .        .        .        .        .      104 

Baltimore  Oriole 104 

Orchard  Oriole 107 

Arizona  Hooded  Oriole 108 

XXII.  THE  CROW-BLACKBIRD  BRANCH     .        .        .        .       110 
Purple  Grackle 112 


xii  CONTENTS 

Bronzed  Crackle 112 

Brewer's  Blackbird 113 

XXIII.  THE  CROW  FAMILY 117 

American  Crow    .         .         .         .        *..-.«        .117 

Blue  Jay  .        ..       .»  .-,'.»        «  ...    ...      .       121 

SteUer'sJay         >        ...  '    -f      ,*.  •     *        .        .126 
American  Magpie     ...        .        .*  ,      •        .       126 

XXIV.  THE  LARK  FAMILY          ,        *        «        •        .        .  131 
Horned  Lark    .         .        .        .        *       .,.        .       131 

Prairie  Horned  Lark     .      ' ,;        *        *        .         .131 

XXV.  THE  FLYCATCHING  FAMILY         *        •        ,        .       135 

Kingbird       .         .        ,',„•;*        ,        .        .  136 

Arkansas  Kingbird   ......       140 

Wood  Pewee 140 

Western  Wood  Pewee  .  .  •  ,  %£  .  142 

XXVI.  THE  HUMMING  FAMILY 143 

Ruby-throated  Hummingbird  ....  144 
Anna's  Hummingbird  ......  149 

XXVII.  THE  SWIFT  FAMILY     ......       150 

Chimney  Swift  .......  150 

XXVIII.  THE  GOATSUCKER  FAMILY 155 

Whip-poor-will 155 

Chuck-wilTs-widow  .  .  .  *  .  .  157 
Poor-will  .  .  .  ,  ,.  .  .157 

Nighthawk  .  .  .  »  .  .  .158 

XXIX.  THE  WOODPECKER  FAMILY 160 

Northern  Flicker 161 

Red-shafted  Flicker  .  .  »  .  .  .  162 

Red-headed  Woodpecker 165 

Calif ornian  Woodpecker  .  «  ,  .•  .167 

XXX.  THE  KINGFISHER  FAMILY 170 

Belted  Kingfisher .  .  .  ,  j  .  .170 

XXXI.  THE  CUCKOO  FAMILY 174 

Yellow-billed  Cuckoo 174 

XXXII.  THE  OWL  FAMILY 178 

Screech  Owl 180 

Burrowing  Owl  .  .  ,  v  .  .  182 

XXXIII.  THE  BARN  OWL  FAMILY  .        .        ,        .        .        .  185 

American  Barn  Owl          >        .        •        .         .       185 

XXXIV.  THE  HAWK  AND  EAGLE  FAMILY     .        .        .        .  188 

American  Sparrow  Hawk          .        »        •        .       189 


CONTENTS  xiii 

American  Osprey,  or  Fish  Hawk           .        .        .  190 

Bald  Eagle 192 

XXXV.  THE  SCAVENGER  FAMILY         .        .        .        .        .  194 

Turkey  Vulture 194 

APPENDIX 

Characters  of  the  North  American  Representatives  of  the 

Families  mentioned  in  this  Book 197 

INDEX     .....  205 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

BARN  SWALLOW  (colored)  ......  Frontispiece 

FIRST  BOOK 

BALTIMORE  ORIOLE  AND  NEST  (colored)  .  .  .  .10 
REDSTARTS  (FEMALE  ON  NEST)  (colored)  ....  14 
RUBY-THROATED  HUMMINGBIRD  —  MALE,  FEMALE,  AND  NEST 

WITH  YOUNG 18 

YOUNG  WOOD  THRUSH ..22 

AMERICAN  GOLDFINCH  (colored) 26 

BLUEBIRD  (colored) 38 

INDIGO-BIRD 46 

AMERICAN  ROBIN  (colored) 60 

CHEWINK 76 

HOUSE  WREN 80 

FLICKER 86 

WHITE-BREASTED  NUTHATCH 96 

LESSER  YELLOWLEGS 106 

BROWN  THRASHER 112 

BLACK  AND  WHITE  WARBLER 120 

CEDAR-BIRD  (colored) 126 

SCARLET  TANAGER  —  MALE  AND  FEMALE      ....  142 

SECOND  BOOK 

HERMIT  THRUSH 10 

RUBY-CROWNED  KINGLET 14 

CHICKADEE 22 

BROWN  CREEPER  (colored) 28 

CATBIRD 36 

AMERICAN  DIPPER .  42 

SPRAGUE'S  PIPIT 46 

YELLOW-BREASTED  CHAT  (colored) 52 


xvi  ILLUSTRATIONS 

YELLOW-THROATED  VIREO  AND  NEST 56 

LOGGERHEAD  SHRIKE 60 

SCARLET  TANAGER  (colored) 76 

ROSE-BREASTED  GROSBEAK  (colored)  ....         86 

CARDINAL 90 

RED-WINGED  BLACKBIRD 94 

MEADOWLARK  (colored) 100 

BLUE  JAY 122 

AMERICAN  MAGPIE  (colored) 126 

DESERT  HORNED  LARK 132 

KINGBIRD  (colored)          .        . 136 

NIGHTHAWK 158 

DOWNY  WOODPECKER 166 

BELTED  KINGFISHER  (colored) 170 

YELLOW-BILLED  CUCKOO 174 

SCREECH  OWL 180 

SPARROW  HAWK 188 

AMERICAN  OSPREY,  OR  FISH  HAWK  (colored)     .        .        .192 

Eight  of  the  sixteen  colored  plates  are  from  drawings  by  Louis 
Agassiz  Fuertes,  and  these  are  signed  with  his  name.  The  other 
colored  plates  and  the  twenty-eight  plain  half-tones  are  from 
photographs  of  mounted  specimens,  many  of  which  are  in  the 
collection  of  the  Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology,  in  Cambridge, 
Massachusetts,  and  are  reproduced  by  permission. 

The  First  Book  also  contains  twenty  cuts  in  the  text. 


FIRST  BOOK 


THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 


WHAT    YOU   WANT   TO    KNOW 

BIRDS  seem  to  be  the  happiest  creatures  on 
earth,  yet  they  have  none  of  what  we  call  the 
comforts  of  life. 

They  have  no  houses  to  live  in,  no  beds  to 
sleep  on,  no  breakfast  and  dinner  provided  for 
them. 

This  book  is  to  tell  something  about  them; 
where  they  live  and  what  they  eat,  where  they 
sleep,  how  they  get  their  beautiful  dress,  and 
many  other  things.  But  no  one  can  tell  all 
about  their  lives  and  habits,  for  no  one  knows 
all  their  ways. 

Men  who  study  dead  birds  can  tell  how  they 
are  made,  how  their  bones  are  put  together,  and 
how  many  feathers  there  are  in  the  wings  and  tail. 
Of  course  it  is  well  to  know  these  things.  But 


2  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

to  see  how  birds  live  is  much  more  interesting 
than  to  look  at  dead  ones. 

It  is  pleasant  to  see  how  mother  birds  build 
their  nests,  and  how  they  take  care  of  their 
nestlings.  It  is  charming  to  see  the  young  ones 
when  they  begin  to  fly,  and  to  know  how  they 
are  taught  to  find  their  food,  and  to  keep  out 
of  danger,  and  to  sing,  and  everything  young 
birds  need  to  know. 

Then  when  they  are  grown  up,  it  is  interest 
ing  to  find  out  where  they  go  in  winter,  and 
why  they  do  not  stay  with  us  all  the  year  round. 

One  who  goes  into  the  field  to  watch  and 
study  their  ways  will  be  surprised  to  find  how 
much  like  people  they  act.  And  after  studying 
living  birds,  he  will  never  want  to  kill  them, 
It  will  seem  to  him  almost  like  murder. 


n 

WHEN   THEY   COME    IN   THE   SPRING 

IN  the  long,  cold  winter  of  the  New  England 
and  Middle  States,  not  many  birds  are  usually 
seen.  In  the  cities  there  is  always  the  English 
sparrow,  and  in  the  country,  now  and  then  a 
chickadee,  or  a  woodpecker,  or  a  small  flock  of 
goldfinches. 

But  very  early  in  the  spring,  long  before  grass 
is  green,  even  while  snow  is  on  the  ground,  the 
birds  begin  to  come. 

Some  morning  a  robin  will  appear,  standing 
up  very  straight  on  a  fence  or  tree,  showing  his 
bright  red  breast  and  black  cap,  flirting  his  tail, 
and  looking  as  if  he  were  glad  to  be  back  in  his 
old  home. 

Then  perhaps  the  same  day  will  come  the 
hoarse  chack  of  a  blackbird,  and  two  or  three  will 
fly  over  and  alight  in  a  big  bare  tree,  looking,  it 
may  be,  for  a  good  place  to  build  a  bird  city. 

Soon  will  be  heard  the  sweet  little  song  of  the 
song  sparrow  or  the  bluebird,  and  then  we  shall 


4  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  BIKDS 

know  that  summer  is  coming,  for  these  are  the 
first  birds  of  spring. 

Day  after  day,  as  the  snow  melts  away  and 
the  sunshine  grows  hotter,  more  birds  will  come. 
One  day  a  catbird  or  two,  another  day  an  oriole 
in  black  and  gold,  and  another  day  a  pert  little 
wren.  So  it  will  go  on,  till  by  the  time  June 
comes  in,  all  our  birds  will  be  back  with  us,  very 
busy,  hopping  around  in  our  bushes  and  trees, 
making  their  nests  all  about,  and  singing  the 
whole  day  long. 

Almost  the  first  thing  every  bird  thinks  of, 
when  he  comes  to  us,  is  making  the  nest.  For 
summer  is  the  only  time  in  his  life  that  a  bird 
has  a  home. 

He  does  not  need  a  house  to  live  in.  He 
cares  nothing  for  a  roof  to  cover  him,  because 
when  the  sun  is  hot,  he  has  the  broad  green 
leaves  on  the  trees  to  shade  him.  And  when  it 
rains  his  neat  feather  coat  is  like  a  waterproof 
that  lets  the  drops  run  off,  leaving  him  warm 
and  dry  under  it. 

He  does  not  need  a  dining-room,  because  he 
eats  wherever  he  finds  his  food,  and  he  wants  no 
kitchen,  because  he  prefers  his  food  raw. 

He  has  no  use  for  a  bedroom,  because  he  can 
sleep  on  any  twig ;  the  whole  world  is  his  bed- 
room. 


WHEN  THEY  COME  IN  THE  SPRING  & 

He  cares  nothing  for  closets  and  bureaus, 
because  he  has  only  one  suit  of  clothes  at  a 
time,  and  he  washes  and  dries  that  without  tak- 
ing it  off. 

He  wants  no  fire  to  keep  him  warm,  for  when 
it  is  too  cold  he  spreads  his  wings  and  flies  to  a 
warmer  place.  A  bird  has  really  no  need  of 
a  house,  —  excepting  when  he  is  a  baby,  be- 
fore his  eyes  are  open,  or  his  feathers  have 
come,  or  his  wings  have  grown.  While  he  is 
blind,  naked,  and  hungry,  he  must  have  a  warm, 
snug  cradle. 

So  when  the  bird  fathers  and  mothers  come 
in  the  spring  the  first  thing  they  do  is  to  find 
good  places  and  build  nice  cradles,  for  they  are 
very  fond  of  their  little  ones.  They  spend  the 
spring  and  summer  in  working  for  them,  keep- 
ing them  warm,  feeding  them  till  they  are 
grown  up,  and  then  teaching  them  to  fly  and  to 
take  care  of  themselves,  so  that  when  summer  is 
gone  they  will  be  ready  to  go  with  the  other 
birds  to  their  winter  home. 


THE  NESTLING 


m 


THE  BIRD'S  HOME 


EACH  bird  mother  has  her  own  way  of  mak- 
ing the  nest,  but  there  is  one  thing  almost  all  of 
them  try  to  do,  and  that  is  to  hide  it. 

They  cannot  put  their  little  homes  out  in 
plain  sight,  as  we  do  our  houses,  because  so 
many  creatures  want  to  rob  them.  Squirrels 
and  snakes  and  rats,  and  some  big  birds,  and 
cats  and  many  others,  like  to  eat  eggs  and  young 
birds. 

So  most  birds  try,  first  of  all,  to  find  good 
hiding-places.  Some  tiny  warblers  go  to  the 
tops  of  the  tallest  trees,  and  hide  the  nest  among 
the  leaves.  Orioles  hang  the  swinging  cradle  at 
the  end  of  a  branch,  where  cats  and  snakes  and 
naughty  boys  cannot  come.  Song  sparrows 
tuck  the  little  home  in  a  tuft  of  weeds,  on  the 
ground,  and  bobolinks  hide  it  in  the  deep  grass. 

After  a  safe  place  is  found,  they  have  to  get 
something  to  build  of.  They  hunt  all  about 
and  gather  small  twigs,  or  grass  stems,  or  fine 


10  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

rootlets,  and  pull  narrow  strips  of  bark  off  the 
grapevines  and  the  birch-trees,  or  they  pick  up 
strings  and  horsehairs,  and  many  other  things. 
Robins  and  swallows  use  mud. 

As  they  go  on  building,  the  mother  bird  gets 
inside  and  turns  around  and  around  to  make  it 
fit  her  form,  and  be  smooth  and  comfortable  for 
her  to  sit  in. 

When  a  nest  is  made,  it  must  be  lined.  Then 
some  birds  go  to  the  chicken  yard,  and  pick  up 
feathers,  and  others  find  horsehairs.  Some  of 
them  pull  off  the  soft  down  that  grows  on 
plants,  or  get  bits  of  wool  from  the  sheep  pas- 
ture, or  old  leaves  from  the  woods,  and  make  it 
soft  and  warm  inside. 

Some  bird  homes  are  only  platforms,  where 
it  seems  as  if  the  eggs  must  roll  off,  and  others 
are  deep  burrows,  or  holes  in  the  ground,  where 
no  one  can  get  in.  Some  are  dainty  baskets 
hung  between  two  twigs,  and  others  are  tiny 
cups  of  felt  with  lichens  outside. 

Each  species  of  bird  builds  in  its  own  way. 
There  are  as  many  different  ways  to  make  nests 
as  there  are  kinds  of  birds  to  make  them. 

Then  after  all  the  trouble  birds  have  taken  to 
build  a  nest,  they  seldom  use  it  a  second  time. 
If  a  pair  have  two  broods  in  a  season,  they 
almost  always  build  a  new  one  for  each  family. 


BALTIMORE  ORIOLE  AND   NEST 


THE  BIRD'S   HOME  11 

A  few  birds,  such  as  eagles,  owls,  and  some* 
times  orioles,  and  others,  repair  the  home  and 
use  it  again,  and  woodpeckers  sometimes  nest  in 
the  old  holes.  But  generally,  after  the  young 
birds  have  flown,  we  may  be  sure  the  nest  will 
not  be  wanted  again. 

When  the  nest  is  finished,  the  eggs  are  laid 
in  it,  one  by  one.  We  all  know  how  pretty 
birds'  eggs  are.  Some  are  snowy  white,  some 
are  delicate  pink,  and  some  blue.  Many  have 
tiny  dots  and  specks  on  them,  and  a  few  are 
covered  with  queer -looking  streaks  and  lines. 
But  pretty  as  they  are,  I  think  no  one  would  be 
so  cruel  as  to  take  them  away  from  the  poor 
little  mother,  if  he  remembered  that  her  young 
ones  are  inside  them,  and  that  she  loves  them  as 
his  own  mother  loves  him. 

I  have  heard  people  say  that  birds  do  not 
care  for  their  eggs.  Let  me  tell  you  what  a 
little  chickadee  mother  did  when  a  man  tried  to 
steal  the  eggs  out  of  her  nest. 

The  nest  was  in  a  hole  in  an  old  stump,  and 
the  man  could  not  get  his  hand  in,  so  he  had  to 
take  them  out  one  at  a  time  with  a  little  scoop. 

At  first  the  mother  flew  at  him  and  tried  to 
drive  him  away.  Then  chickadees  and  other 
birds  who  lived  near  came  to  help  her.  All 
flew  about  his  face  with  cries,  so  that  he  had  to 


12  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

use  one  hand  to  keep  them  away  from  his  eyes, 
But  still  he  went  on  taking  out  the  eggs. 

At  last  the  little  mother  was  so  wild  with 
grief  that  she  dashed  into  the  hole  and  sat  there 
in  the  doorway,  right  before  his  face.  He  could 
not  get  another  egg  without  hurting  her,  and  he 
was  ashamed  to  do  that. 

This  was  as  brave  in  the  tiny  creature  as  it 
would  be  for  a  human  mother  to  throw  herself 
before  a  fierce,  hungry  tiger.  Do  you  think 
she  did  not  care  for  her  eggs  ? 


IV 

THE   BABY   BIRD 

A  BABY  bird,  as  you  know,  always  comes  out 
of  an  egg.  And  beautiful  as  these  eggs  are, 
they  are  most  interesting  when  you  think  that 
each  one  holds  a  tiny  bird. 

Eggs  are  not  all  alike,  of  course.  One  the 
size  of  a  bean  is  large  enough  to  hold  a  hum- 
mingbird baby,  till  it  is  old  enough  to  come 
out.  But  the  young  ostrich  needs  a  shell  nearly 
as  big  as  your  head.  So  there  are  all  sizes  of 
eggs  to  fit  the  different  sizes  of  birds. 

If  you  should  break  a  fresh  egg  you  would 
not  see  a  bird,  for  it  would  not  be  formed  at 
that  time.  After  the  egg  is  laid  in  its  soft  bed, 
it  has  to  be  kept  warm  for  many  days,  and  that 
is  why  the  mother  bird  sits  on  her  nest  so 
quietly.  She  is  keeping  the  eggs  warm,  so  that 
the  little  ones  will  form  and  grow,  till  they  are 
as  big  as  the  shells  can  hold. 

While  the  mother  is  sitting  her  mate  does  all 
he  can  to  help,  though  each  species  has  its  own 


14  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

way.  The  blue  jay  brings  food  to  his  mate,  so 
that  she  need  not  leave  the  nest  at  all,  and  many 
others  do  so.  But  the  kingbird  father  simply 
watches  the  nest  to  protect  it  while  the  mother 
goes  for  food.  A  redstart  gets  into  the  nest 
himself,  to  keep  the  eggs  warm  while  his  mate  is 
gone,  and  a  goldfinch  coaxes  his  mate  to  go  off 
with  him  for  a  lunch,  leaving  nest  and  eggs  to 
take  care  of  themselves. 

Another  thing  the  father  birds  do  is  to  sing. 
This  is  the  time  when  we  hear  so  much  bird 
song.  The  singers  have  little  to  do  but  to  wait, 
and  so  they  please  themselves,  and  their  mates, 
and  us  too,  by  singing  a  great  deal. 

When  the  little  birds  begin  to  be  cramped, 
and  find  their  cradle  too  tight,  they  peck  at  the 
shell  with  a  sort  of  tooth  that  grows  on  the  end 
of  the  beak,  and  is  called  the  "  egg  tooth." 
This  soon  breaks  the  shell,  and  they  come  out. 
Then  the  mother  or  father  carefully  picks  up 
the  pieces  of  shell,  carries  them  off,  and  throws 
them  away,  leaving  only  the  little  ones  in  the 
nest.  Perhaps  you  have  found  these  broken 
shells  on  the  ground  sometimes,  and  could  not 
guess  how  they  came  there.  When  the  bird- 
lings  break  out  of  their  prison  they  do  not  all 
look  the  same.  Ducks  and  geese  and  chickens 
and  quails,  and  other  birds  who  live  on  the 


REDSTARTS   (FEMALE  ON  NEST) 


THE  BABY  BIRD  15 

ground,  as  well  as  hawks  and  owls,  are  dressed 
in  pretty  suits  of  down.  They  have  their  eyes 
open,  and  the  ground  birds  are  ready  to  run 
about  at  once. 

A  man  who  studied  birds,  once  saw  a  young 
duck  get  its  first  suit  of  down.  He  picked  up 
the  egg  just  as  the  little  bird  inside  was  trying 
to  get  out.  In  a  few  minutes  the  shell  fell 
apart,  and  out  stepped  the  duckling  on  his  hand. 
It  seemed  to  be  covered  with  coarse  black  hairs, 
which  in  a  moment  began  to  burst  open,  one  by 
one,  and  out  of  each  came  a  soft  fluff  of  down. 
So  in  a  few  minutes,  while  the  man  stood  there 
and  held  him,  the  little  duck  was  all  covered 
with  his  pretty  dress. 

But  most  birds  hatched  in  nests  in  trees  and 
bushes,  like  robins  and  bluebirds,  are  very  dif- 
ferent. When  they  come  out  of  their  shells 
they  are  naked,  have  their  eyes  shut,  and  look 
as  if  they  were  nearly  all  mouth.  A  young 
hummingbird  looks  about  as  big  as  a  honey 
bee,  and  a  robin  baby  not  much  bigger  than  the 
eggshell  he  came  out  of. 

They  lie  flat  down  in  the  nest,  seeming  to  be 
asleep  most  of  the  time.  All  they  want  is  to  be 
warm  and  to  be  fed. 

To  keep  them  warm,  the  mother  sits  on  them 
a  great  part  of  the  time,  and  for  the  first  few 


16  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

days  of  their  lives,  the  father  often  brings  most 
of  the  food.  Sometimes  he  gives  it  to  the 
mother,  and  she  feeds  the  little  ones.  But 
sometimes  she  gets  off  the  nest,  and  flies  away 
to  rest,  and  get  something  to  eat  for  herself, 
while  he  feeds  the  nestlings. 

There  is  one  bird  father  who  —  it  is  thought 
—  never  comes  to  the  nest,  either  to  watch  the 
eggs  or  to  help  feed  the  nestlings.  That  is  our 
hummingbird,  the  ruby  throat. 

We  do  not  know  the  reason  for  this,  and  it 
is  not  fair  to  say  hard  things  about  him  until 
we  do.  It  may  be  that  he  thinks  his  shining 
ruby  would  show  the  hiding-place  of  the  nest, 
or  it  may  be  that  the  little  mother  is  not  willing 
to  have  any  help.  I  think  this  last  is  the  real 
reason,  for  she  has  a  great  deal  of  spirit,  and 
always  drives  away  others  from  her  feeding- 
places. 

Young  birds  grow  very  fast,  and  soon  feathers 
begin  to  come  out  all  over  them.  They  are  not 
very  pretty  at  this  time. 


HOW   HE    IS   FED 

SOON  after  the  young  bird  comes  out  of  the 
egg,  he  begins  to  be  hungry.  All  day  long, 
whenever  the  father  or  mother  comes  near,  he 
opens  his  great  mouth  as  wide  as  he  can,  to  have 
it  filled,  and  the  moment  he  gets  his  voice  he 
cries  for  food. 

Then  the  old  birds  have  to  work  hard.  Three 
or  four  hungry  nestlings  can  keep  both  father 
and  mother  busy  from  morning  till  night,  hunting 
for  caterpillars  and  beetles  and  grubs  and  other 
things  to  feed  them.  It  seems  as  if  the  little 
fellows  never  could  get  enough  to  eat.  Each 
swallow  baby  wants  seven  or  eight  hundred  small 
flies  every  day,  and  a  baby  robin  needs  more 
earthworms  in  a  day  than  you  can  hold  in  your 
hand  at  once. 

At  this  time  you  will  see  robins  hunting  over 
the  lawn,  and  carrying  great  beakfuls  of  worms 
up  to  the  nest.  Bluebirds  you  will  find  looking 
in  the  grass,  and  sparrows  hopping  about  on  the 


18  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

ground,  all  seeking  soft  worms  and  grubs  and 
insects  for  the  nestlings ;  and  they  are  so  busy 
they  do  not  get  much  time  for  singing. 

At  this  time  the  orioles  go  all  over  the  or- 
chard trees  looking  for  tiny  worms,  and  little 
warblers  seek  them  under  every  leaf. 

Woodpeckers  find  the  insects  hidden  behind 
the  bark  of  trees,  by  cutting  holes  through  it. 
Chickadees  and  nuthatches  pick  the  tiniest  insect 
eggs  out  of  the  crevices,  and  flickers  hunt  every- 
where for  ants. 

As  soon  as  one  of  the  old  birds  has  his  mouth 
full,  he  flies  to  the  nest  to  feed  the  young. 

But  not  all  birds  feed  in  the  same  way.  A 
robin  just  drops  a  big  earthworm,  or  a  part  of 
one,  into  the  gaping  baby  mouth.  Many  other 
birds  do  so  also.  Sometimes,  when  an  insect  is 
too  big  or  too  hard,  they  beat  it  till  it  is  soft, 
or  break  it  up,  before  giving  it  to  a  little  one. 

But  hummingbird  mothers  and  flicker  mo- 
thers have  a  different  way.  When  they  collect 
the  food  they  swallow  it,  as  if  they  wanted  it  for 
themselves.  Then  they  go  to  the  nest,  and  jerk 
it  up  again  in  mouthfuls,  and  feed  the  nestlings. 
This  is  called  feeding  by  "  regurgitation,"  or 
"  throwing  up." 

The  way  they  give  the  food  is  very  curious. 
They  push  their  long  beaks  into  the  nestling's 


HOW  HE  IS  FED  19 

throat,  and  poke  the  food  far  down ;  so  the 
young  one  does  not  even  have  the  trouble  of 
swallowing. 

This  looks  as  if  it  must  hurt,  but  the  nestling 
seems  to  like  it,  and  is  always  ready  for  more* 
The  pigeon  mother  lets  the  young  one  poke  his 
beak  down  her  throat,  and  get  the  food  for 
himself. 

If  the  food  is  hard,  like  corn,  birds  who  feed 
in  this  way  let  it  stay  in  the  crop  till  it  is  soft 
and  better  fitted  for  tender  throats,  before  they 
give  it  out. 

It  is  comical  to  see  a  nest  full  of  little  birds 
when  the  father  or  mother  comes  with  food. 
All  stretch  up  and  open  their  big  mouths  as 
wide  as  they  can,  and  if  they  are  old  enough, 
they  cry  as  if  they  were  starving. 

Some  birds  bring  food  enough  for  all  in  the 
nest,  every  time  they  come.  A  cedar-bird,  feed- 
ing wild  cherries,  brought  five  of  them  every 
time,  one  for  each  of  the  five  nestlings.  One 
cherry  was  held  in  his  mouth,  but  the  other 
four  were  down  his  throat,  and  had  to  be  jerked 
up  one  by  one. 

Other  birds  bring  only  one  mouthful  at  a 
time,  and  when  there  are  five  or  six  in  the 
nest,  they  have  to  make  as  many  journeys  before 
all  are  fed. 


20  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

Some  persons  who  have  studied  birds  think 
that  each  nestling  is  fed  in  its  turn ;  but  they 
look  so  much  alike,  and  are  so  close  together, 
that  it  is  hard  to  tell,  and  I  am  not  sure  that 
it  is  so. 

I  will  tell  you  a  story  I  have  heard  about 
feeding  little  birds.  A  child  picked  up  a  young 
goldfinch  who  had  fallen  out  of  the  nest.  He 
took  him  home  and  put  him  into  the  canary's 
cage,  which  was  hanging  on  the  front  porch. 

Soon  the  family  heard  a  great  noise  among 
the  birds,  and  went  out  to  see  what  was  the 
matter.  The  baby  goldfinch  had  hopped  on  to 
a  perch  in  the  cage,  and  seemed  to  be  afraid  to 
come  down,  though  the  old  birds  had  brought 
food  for  him,  and  were  calling  him  to  take  it. 

The  canary  looked  on  a  while,  and  then  all  at 
once  he  flew  to  the  wires  and  took  the  food  from 
the  birds  outside;  then  he  went  back  to  the 
perch  beside  the  little  one  and  gave  it  to  him. 
This  he  did  many  times. 

The  next  day  another  young  goldfinch  was 
picked  up  and  put  in  the  cage,  and  the  canary 
took  food  from  the  parents  and  fed  both. 

After  a  few  days  the  old  birds  came  with  a 
third  little  one,  and  as  all  were  now  old  enough 
to  fly,  the  cage  door  was  opened,  and  they  all 
flew  away. 


VI 

HIS   FIRST   SUIT 

SOME  birds  that  live  on  the  ground  —  as  I 
iold  you  —  have  dresses  of  down  to  begin  with. 
These  little  fellows  have  no  warm  nest  to  stay 
in,  but  run  around  almost  as  soon  as  they  come 
out  of  the  egg.  Young  ducks  and  geese  wear 
this  baby  suit  for  weeks,  before  they  begin  to  put 
on  their  feather  coats. 

Young  birds  that  spend  most  of  their  time  in 
the  water,  like  grebes,  and  others  that  live  in  a 
cold  country,  have  the  down  very  thick  and  fine, 
like  heavy  underclothes,  to  keep  them  dry  and 
warm. 

Birds  whose  home  is  underground,  like  the 
kingfisher,  or  in  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  like  the 
woodpecker,  have  hardly  any  down  at  all.  They 
need  no  baby  clothes  in  their  warm  cradles. 

Kobins  and  most  other  song  birds  have  only 
a  little  down  on  them,  and  very  soon  the  feathers 
begin  to  grow. 

When  the  tiny  quills  push  themselves  up,  they 


22  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

look  like  little  white  pins  sticking  out  all  over. 
Each  bit  of  down  grows  out  of  a  little  raised 
place  on  the  skin  that  looks  like  a  pimple,  and 
the  feather  comes  out  of  the  same. 

As  the  feather  grows,  the  bit  of  down  clings 
to  it  till  it  is  broken  off.  Sometimes  it  holds 
on  till  the  feather  is  well  out.  We  can  often 
see  down  sticking  to  a  young  bird's  feathers. 

The  little  feathers  grow  very  fast,  and  before 
he  is  ready  to  fly  a  young  bird  is  well  covered. 
Birds  hatched  with  their  eyes  open,  and  already 
dressed,  who  have  to  run  and  fly  very  soon,  get 
their  wing  feathers  early;  but  birds  who  live 
many  days  in  the  nest,  like  robins  and  bluebirds, 
do  not  get  theirs  till  they  are  nearly  grown. 

The  tail  feathers  are  the  last  to  come  to  full 
length,  and  you  will  notice  that  most  birds  just 
out  of  the  nest  have  very  dumpy  tails. 

A  bird's  first  suit  of  feathers  is  called  his  nest- 
ling plumage.  In  some  families  it  is  just  like 
the  dress  of  the  grown-up  birds,  but  in  others  it 
is  not  at  all  like  that.  It  is  usually  worn  only 
a  few  weeks,  for  the  young  one  outgrows  it, 
and  needs  a  new  and  bigger  one  before  winter. 

When  a  bird  is  fully  dressed,  his  body  is  en- 
tirely covered,  and  it  looks  as  if  the  feathers 
grew  close  to  each  other  all  over  him.  But  it  is 
not  so.  The  feathers  grow  in  patterns,  called 


YOUNG  WOOD  THRUSH 


HIS  FIRST  SUIT  23 

*  feather  tracts,"  with  spaces  of  bare  skin  be- 
tween them.  These  bare  places  do  not  show, 
because  the  feathers  lap  over  each  other  and 
oover  them. 

The  pattern  of  the  feather  tracts  is  not  the 
same  in  all  birds.  A  few  birds  of  the  Ostrich 
family  have  feathers  all  over  the  body. 

There  is  another  curious  thing  about  the  nest- 
ling plumage.  You  would  expect  a  young  bird 
to  look  like  his  father  or  mother ;  and  some  of 
them  do.  Many  nestlings  are  dressed  exactly 
like  their  mothers ;  and  not  until  they  are  a 
year  old  do  the  young  males  get  a  coat  like  their 
father's.  Some  of  them,  indeed,  do  not  have 
their  grown-up  suits  for  two  or  three  years. 

Then,  again,  many  young  birds  have  dresses 
different  from  both  parents.  Young  robins  have 
speckled  breasts,  and  spots  on  the  shoulders, 
which  the  old  birds  have  not. 

When  the  father  and  mother  are  dressed  alike, 
as  the  song  sparrows  are,  the  young  birds  gen- 
erally differ  from  both  of  them.  When  the  father 
and  mother  are  different,  like  orioles  or  blue- 
birds, the  young  are  usually  like  the  mother  the 
first  season.  In  some  cases  the  father,  mother, 
and  young  are  almost  exactly  alike. 

Birds  who  live  on  the  ground  need  dresses  of 
dull  colors,  or  they  would  not  be  very  safe.  The 


24  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

ostrich  mother,  who  makes  her  nest  in  plain  sight 
on  the  sand,  is  dressed  in  grayish  brown.  When 
she  sits  on  the  eggs,  she  lays  her  long  neck  flat 
on  the  ground  before  her ;  then  she  looks  like 
one  of  the  ant-hills  that  are  common  on  the 
plains  of  Africa,  where  she  lives. 

The  South  American  ostrich,  or  rhea,  fluffs 
out  her  feathers  and  looks  like  a  heap  of  dry 
grass.  The  male  ostrich  is  dressed  in  showy 
black  and  white,  and  he  stays  away  all  day,  but 
takes  care  of  the  nest  at  night,  when  his  striking 
colors  cannot  be  seen. 


vn 


HOW   HE    CHANGES    HIS    CLOTHES 

IT  takes  a  bird  weeks  to  put  on  a  new  suit  of 
clothes.  He  has  nothing  but  his  feathers  to 
protect  him  from  cold  and  wet,  and  as  feathers 
cannot  grow  out  in  a  minute,  he  would  be  left 
naked,  and  suffer,  if  he  lost  them  all  at  once.  So 
he  changes  his  dress  one  or  two  feathers  at  a 
time. 

Some  day  a  feather  will  drop  from  each  wingv 
If  you  could  look,  you  would  see  that  new  ones 
had  started  out  in  the  same  place,  and  pushed 
the  old  ones  off.  When  the  new  ones  are  pretty 
well  grown  another  pair  will  fall  out. 

If  all  dropped  out  at  once,  besides  suffering 
with  cold  he  would  not  be  able  to  fly,  and  he 
could  not  get  his  living,  and  anybody  could 
catch  him-  But  losing  only  one  from  each  side 
at  a  time,  he  always  has  enough  to  fly  with. 

It  is  the  same  way  with  his  tail  feathers.  He 
loses  them  in  pairs,  one  from  each  side  at  the 
tame  time. 


X  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

The  soft  feathers  that  cover  his  body  drop 
out  one  by  one.  Thus  all  the  time  he  is  putting 
on  a  new  suit  he  still  wears  part  of  the  old  one. 
In  this  way  he  is  never  left  without  clothes  for  a 
moment. 

Most  birds  put  on  their  new  suits  just  after 
the  young  ones  are  grown  up,  and  Jbefore  they 
all  start  for  the  South  to  spend  the  winter,  —  that 
is,  with  many  of  our  common  birds,  in  August. 
At  that  time  they  are  rather  shy,  and  stop  sing- 
ing. If  you  did  not  see  one  now  and  then,  you 
might  think  they  were  all  gone. 

Sometimes  the  new  fall  suit  is  not  at  all  like 
the  old  one.  There  is  the  goldfinch,  all  summer 
in  bright  yellow.  When  he  comes  out  in  his 
new  suit  in  August,  it  is  dull-colored,  much  like 
the  one  his  mate  wears  all  the  year,  and  in  win- 
ter, when  goldfinches  fly  around  in  little  flocks, 
they  look  nearly  all  alike. 

In  the  spring,  the  male  goldfinch  comes  out 
again  in  yellow.  He  has  two  suits  a  year, —  a 
bright  yellow  one  in  the  spring,  and  a  dull  olive- 
green  for  the  winter.  But  his  new  spring  dress 
is  not  a  full  suit.  The  yellow  of  the  body  is  all 
fresh,  but  the  black  wings  are  the  same  the  year 
round. 

Some  birds  have  two,  different  colored  dresses 
in  a  year;  one  they  get  without  changing  a 


HOW  HE  CHANGES  HIS  CLOTHES  27 

feather.  Suppose  they  have  feathers  of  black, 
with  gray  on  the  outside  edges.  All  winter  the 
gray  shows  and  the  birds  seem  to  have  gray 
coats.  But  in  spring  the  gray  edges  wear  or  fall 
off,  and  the  black  shows,  and  then  they  look  as 
if  they  had  come  out  in  new  black  suits.  It  is 
as  if  you  should  take  off  a  gray  overcoat  and 
show  a  black  coat  under  it. 

There  is  another  interesting  thing  about  birds' 
dress.  Some  of  them  look  like  their  mates,  the 
father  and  mother  birds  so  nearly  alike  that  it  is 
hard,  sometimes  impossible,  to  tell  them  apart. 
But  when  that  is  the  case,  you  will  notice  that 
the  color  is  not  very  gay.  If  the  father  wears  a 
bright-colored  suit,  the  mother  does  not  look  like 
him. 

For  this  reason  the  little  mother  is  not  too  easily 
seen  when  she  is  on  her  nest.  If  the  goldfinch 
mother  were  as  bright  as  her  mate,  everybody 
who  came  near  would  see  her  on  the  nest,  and 
some  animal  might  take  her,  and  leave  the  young 
birds  to  starve  to  death.  That  is  probably  why 
mother  birds  dress  in  such  dull  colors. 

When  birds  live  on  the  ground,  or  very  near 
it,  in  most  cases  both  of  the  pair  wear  the  dull 
colors,  so  they  will  not  easily  be  seen.  Wrens 
and  sparrows  and  many  others  are  so.  But  birds 
who  make  their  nests  in  holes,  or  under  ground, 


28  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

are  often  as  bright  as  their  mates,  because  they 
cannot  be  seen  while  sitting,  and  do  not  need  to 
wear  dull  colors. 

A  curious  thing  about  a  bird's  color  is  that 
the  same  species,  or  kind  of  bird,  is  darker  in 
one  place  than  another.  Where  there  is  much 
dampness  or  wet  weather,  the  colors  are  darker. 
For  instance,  a  bob-white  who  lives  in  Florida, 
or  one  who  lives  in  Oregon,  will  be  much  darker 
than  his  cousin  living  in  New  England, 


VIII 

HIS   FIRST   FLIGHT 

WHEN  young  birds  are  in  the  nest  they  are 
not  very  pretty.  But  when  they  are  nearly 
feathered,  and  sit  up  on  the  edge,  exercising 
their  wings,  and  getting  ready  to  fly,  they  are 
lovely  to  look  at.  Their  feathers  are  more  fluffy 
and  fresh  than  those  of  the  old  birds. 

At  that  time  they  have  not  learned  to  be  afraid 
of  us,  and  if  we  do  not  frighten  them  by  rough- 
ness, loud  talking,  or  quick  movements,  we  can 
often  get  near  enough  to  see  them  well.  They 
will  sit  up  and  look  at  us  without  fear. 

Then  some  day,  all  at  once,  a  young  bird  will 
begin  to  flap  his  wings,  and  off  he  will  go;  flut- 
tering very  hard,  beating  his  wings,  and  trying 
to  reach  the  next  tree. 

Sometimes  he  will  reach  it,  and  perch  on  a 
twig,  and  sit  quite  still  a  long  time,  tired  with 
his  first  flight.  Then  the  parents  will  come  and 
feed  him,  and  after  a  while  he  will  fly  again. 
This  time  he  will  go  farther. 


30  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

So  he  will  go  on,  till  in  a  few  days  he  can  Ay 
very  well,  and  follow  his  parents  about,  and  begin 
to  learn  where  to  get  food. 

Sometimes  when  a  young  bird  leaves  the  nest 
he  does  not  reach  the  tree  he  starts  for,  but  falls 
to  the  ground.  Then  there  is  trouble  among 
the  birds.  He  is  in  danger  of  being  picked  up 
by  a  cat  or  a  boy,  or  of  getting  tangled  in  the 
grass  or  weeds. 

The  poor  parents  are  half  wild  with  fear.  They 
coax  him  to  try  again,  and  they  follow  him  about 
in  the  grass,  in  great  distress.  I  have  many 
times  picked  up  a  little  bird,  and  set  him  on  a 
branch  of  a  tree,  or  stood  guard  over  him,  driv- 
ing away  cats  and  keeping  off  people,  till  he 
reached  a  place  where  he  would  be  safe. 

When  young  birds  are  out,  but  cannot  yet 
fly  very  well,  there  is  much  anxiety  about  them. 
Then,  if  any  one  comes  around  to  disturb  them, 
what  can  the  poor  little  mother  do  ?  Sometimes 
she  makes  her  young  ones  hide.  Some  of  the 
birds  who  live  on  the  ground  will  give  a  certain 
cry,  when  in  a  second  every  little  one  will  crouch 
on  the  ground,  or  creep  under  a  leaf,  and  be  per- 
fectly still.  And  their  dark  colors  look  so  like 
the  earth  one  can  hardly  see  them. 

Then  the  mother  tries  to  make  one  look  at 
her  by  queer  antics.  She  pretends  to  be  hurt, 


HIS  FIRST  FLIGHT  3t 

ana  tumbles  about  as  if  she  could  not  fly.  If  it 
is  a  man  or  an  animal  who  has  frightened  her( 
he  will  usually  think  he  can  easily  catch  her: 
so  he  will  forget  about  the  young  ones,  and  fol- 
low her  as  she  goes  fluttering  over  the  ground. 
She  will  go  on  playing  that  she  is  hurt,  and 
moving  away,  till  she  leads  him  far  from  her 
brood.  Then  she  will  start  up  and  fly  away, 
and  he  cannot  find  his  way  back  to  where  the 
little  ones  are  still  crouching. 

Sometimes  when  a  mother  is  frightened,  she 
will  snatch  up  her  young  one  between  her  feet, 
and  fly  away  with  it.  Sometimes  a  mother  will 
fight,  actually  fly  into  the  face  of  the  one  she 
fears.  Often,  too,  other  birds  come  to  her  aid ; 
birds  of  many  kinds,  —  catbirds,  robins,  thrash- 
ers, and  others,  —  all  come  to  help  her  drive 
away  the  enemy,  for  birds  are  almost  always 
ready  to  help  each  other. 

I  once  found  a  young  blue  jay  who  had  come 
to  the  ground  while  trying  his  first  flight.  I 
thought  I  would  pick  him  up  and  put  him  on  a 
branch.  But  the  old  birds  did  not  know  what  1 
meant  to  do,  and  perhaps  they  were  afraid  T 
would  carry  him  off. 

They  flew  at  me  with  loud  cries  to  drive  me 
away,  and  I  thought  it  best  to  go,  for  I  did  not 
want  to  make  them  any  more  unhappy  than  they 
were  already. 


52  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

I  did  not  go  far,  because  I  wanted  to  see 
that  no  one  caught  the  little  one.  He  hopped 
about  in  the  grass  a  long  time,  while  his  parents 
flew  around  him  in  great  distress.  Many  times 
he  tried  to  fly,  but  he  could  not  rise  more  than 
two  feet  from  the  ground. 

At  last  he  seemed  to  make  up  his  mind  to 
climb  a  tree,  for  when  he  came  to  one  with  a 
rough  bark  he  began  to  go  up.  He  would  fly 
up  a  few  inches,  then  hold  on  with  his  claws  to 
rest.  And  so,  half  flying  and  half  climbing,  he 
went  on  till  he  reached  the  lowest  limb.  On 
that  he  perched  and  was  quiet,  glad  to  rest  after 
his  hard  work.  The  old  birds  were  happy,  too, 
and  brought  food  to  him,  and  so  I  left  them. 


IX 

HIS    EDUCATION 

THE  young  bird  has  to  be  educated,  or  trained 
for  his  life,  just  as  we  do,  though  not  exactly 
in  the  same  way. 

He  does  not  have  to  know  arithmetic  and 
history ;  and  what  he  needs  of  geography  is 
only  the  road  to  the  South,  where  he  spends  his 
winters. 

I  suppose  the  first  thing  he  learns  is  to  fly. 
You  have  heard,  perhaps,  that  the  old  birds 
drive  their  young  out  of  the  nest.  But  do  not 
believe  any  such  thing,  for  it  is  not  true.  I 
have  seen  many  little  birds  leave  the  nest,  and 
almost  every  one  flew  when  the  parents  were 
away  after  food. 

The  parents  sometimes  try  to  coax  a  nestling 
who  is  afraid  to  try  his  wings,  like  an  oriole  I 
knew  of.  All  the  young  orioles  had  flown 
except  this  one,  and  he  seemed  to  be  too  timid 
to  try.  He  stood  on  the  edge  of  the  nest,  and 
called  and  cried,  but  did  not  use  his  wings. 


34  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

The  father  came  to  see  him  now  and  then,  and 
at  last  he  made  him  fly  in  this  way.  He  caught 
a  fine,  large  moth,  and  brought  it  to  the  nest  in 
his  beak.  The  young  bird  was  very  hungry, 
and  when  he  saw  the  food,  he  opened  his  mouth 
and  fluttered  his  wings,  so  eager  to  get  it  he 
eould  hardly  wait. 

But  the  parent  did  not  feed  him.  He  let  him 
see  the  moth,  and  then,  with  a  loud  call,  he 
flew  to  the  next  tree.  When  the  little  oriole 
saw  the  food  going  away,  he  forgot  he  was 
afraid,  and  with  a  cry  of  horror  he  sprang  after 
it ;  and  so,  before  he  knew  it,  he  had  flown. 

After  the  young  bird  can  fly,  he  needs  to  be 
taught  to  get  his  own  living,  or  to  find  his  own 
food,  and  also  where  to  sleep.  Then  he  must 
learn  what  to  be  afraid  of,  and  how  to  protect 
himself  from  his  enemies. 

He  needs  to  know  the  different  calls  and  cries 
of  his  family,  and  what  they  all  mean.  He  has 
to  learn  to  fly  in  a  flock  with  other  birds,  and 
he  must  learn  to  sing.  No  doubt  there  are  many 
more  lessons  for  him  that  we  do  not  know 
about. 

If  you  watch  little  birds  just  out  of  the  nest, 
you  may  see  them  being  taught  the  most  useful 
and  important  lesson,  how  to  find  their  food. 

The  robin  mother  takes  her  little  one  to  the 


HIS  EDUCATION  33 

ground,  and  shows  him  where  the  worms  live 
and  how  to  get  them.  The  owl  mother  finds  a 
mouse  creeping  about  in  the  grass,  and  teaches 
the  owlets  how  to  pounce  upon  it,  by  doing  it 
herself  before  them. 

The  old  swallow  takes  her  youngsters  into  the 
air,  and  shows  them  how  to  catch  little  flies  on 
the  wing ;  while  mother  phoebe  teaches  hers  to 
sit  still  and  watch  till  a  fly  comes  near,  and  then 
fly  out  and  catch  it. 

If  you  watch  long  enough,  after  a  while  you 
may  see  the  old  bird,  who  is  training  a  young 
one,  fly  away.  She  may  leave  the  young  one 
alone  on  a  tree  or  the  ground,  and  be  gone  a 
long  time. 

Before  many  minutes  the  little  one  will  get 
hungry,  and  begin  to  call  for  food.  But  by 
and  by,  if  nobody  comes  to  feed  him,  he  will 
think  to  look  around  for  something  to  eat. 
Thus  he  will  get  his  lesson  in  helping  himself. 

Once  I  saw  a  woodpecker  father  bring  his 
little  one  to  a  fence,  close  by  some  raspberry 
bushes  that  were  full  of  berries.  He  fed  him 
two  or  three  berries,  to  teach  him  what  they 
were  and  where  they  grew,  and  then  quietly 
slipped  away. 

When  the  young  bird  began  to  feel  hungry 
he  cried  out ;  but  nobody  came.  Then  he  looked 


86  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

over  at  the  raspberries,  and  reached  out  and 
tried  to  get  hold  of  one.  After  trying  three  or 
four  times,  and  nearly  pitching  off  his  perch,  he 
did  reach  one.  Then  how  proud  he  was  ! 

The  father  stayed  away  an  hour  or  more,  and 
before  he  came  back  that  young  woodpecker 
had  learned  to  help  himself  very  well ;  though 
the  minute  his  father  came,  he  began  to  flutter 
his  wings  and  beg  to  be  fed,  as  if  he  were  half 
starved. 

A  lady,  who  fed  the  wild  birds  on  her  window 
sill  for  many  years,  and  watched  their  ways,  says 
she  often  saw  the  old  birds  teaching  their  little 
ones.  They  showed  them  where  the  food  was 
to  be  found,  and,  she  says,  regularly  taught 
them  the  art  of  eating. 

Then  she  saw  them  taught  to  be  afraid  of 
people,  not  to  come  too  near  her.  And  once  she 
saw  an  old  bird  showing  a  young  one  how  to 
gather  twigs  for  nest-building.  The  young  one 
looked  on  a  while,  and  then  tried  hard  to  do  it 
himself,  but  could  not  get  off  a  single  twig. 

Best  of  all,  the  same  lady  heard  an  old  robin 
giving  a  music  lesson.  The  teacher  would  sing 
a  few  notes  and  then  stop,  while  the  pupil  tried 
to  copy  them.  He  had  a  weak,  babyish  sort  of 
voice,  and  did  not  succeed  very  well  at  first. 

I  have  heard  several  birds  at  their  music  les- 
sons. 


SOME    OF    HIS   LESSONS 

IT  is  very  easy  to  catch  the  birds  teaching 
their  little  ones  to  exercise  their  wings  and  to 
fly  together.  You  will  see  the  young  birds 
sitting  quietly  on  fences  or  trees,  when  all  at 
once  the  parents  begin  to  fly  around,  with 
strange  loud  calls.  In  a  minute  every  young- 
ster will  fly  out  and  join  them.  Around  and 
around  they  all  go,  hard  as  they  can,  till  their 
little  wings  are  tired,  and  then  they  come  down 
and  alight  again. 

Once  I  saw  a  young  bird  who  did  not  go 
when  his  parents  called.  All  the  others  flew 
around  many  times,  and  I  suppose  that  young 
one  thought  he  would  not  be  noticed. 

But  mothers'  eyes  are  sharp,  and  his  mother 
saw  him.  So  when  she  came  back,  she  flew 
right  at  her  naughty  son,  and  knocked  him  off 
his  perch.  The  next  time  she  called,  he  flew 
with  the  rest.  This  was  a  crow  mother. 

I  have  seen  a  bluebird  just  out  of  the  nest, 


88  THE   FIRST  BOOK   OF  BIRDS 

taught  to  follow  his  father  in  this  way.  He 
stood  on  a  small  tree,  crying  for  something  to 
eat,  when  his  father  came  in  sight  with  a  beak- 
ful  of  food.  He  did  not  feed  him,  but  flew 
past  him,  so  close  that  tie  almost  touched  him, 
and  alighted  on  the  next  tree,  a  little  beyond 
him. 

The  little  bluebird  saw  the  food,  and  at  once 
flew  after  it,  perched  beside  his  father,  and  was 
fed.  Then  the  old  bird  left  him,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  he  felt  hungry,  and  began  to  call 
again. 

I  kept  close  watch,  and  soon  the  father  came 
and  did  the  same  thing  over.  He  flew  past  the 
young  one  with  an  insect  in  plain  sight  in  his 
beak,  and  perched  on  another  tree  still  farther 
along  in  the  way  he  wanted  the  little  one  to  go. 

The  hungry  baby  followed,  and  was  fed  as 
before.  In  this  way  he  was  led  to  a  big  tree 
the  other  side  of  the  yard,  where  the  rest  of 
the  family  were,  and  where  they  all  spent  the 
night. 

An  old  robin  wanted  to  teach  her  young  one 
to  bathe.  She  brought  him  to  a  dish  of  water 
kept  for  their  use  by  some  people  who  were 
fond  of  birds.  The  little  one  stood  on  the  edge 
and  watched  his  mother  go  in,  and  splash  and 
scatter  the  water.  He  fluttered  his  wings,  and 


SOME  OF  HIS  LESSONS  39 

was  eager  to  try  it  for  himself,  but  seemed  afraid 
to  plunge  in. 

At  last  the  mother  flew  away  and  left  him 
standing  there,  and  in  a  moment  came  back 
with  a  worm  in  her  mouth.  The  young  robin 
was  hungry,  as  young  birds  always  are,  and 
when  he  saw  the  worm,  he  began  to  flutter  his 
wings,  and  cry  for  it. 

But  the  mother  jumped  into  the  middle  of 
the  water  dish,  and  stood  there,  holding  the 
worm  in  his  sight.  The  youngster  wanted  the 
worm  so  much  that  he  seemed  to  forget  his  fear 
of  the  water,  and  hopped  right  in  beside  her. 
She  fed  him,  and  then  began  to  splash  about, 
and  he  liked  it  so  well  that  he  stayed  and  took 
a  good  bath. 

Birds,  as  these  stories  show,  teach  their  little 
ones  by  coaxing,  and  not  by  driving  them. 

An  Englishman,  Mr.  Lloyd  Morgan,  once 
had  some  ducks  and  chickens  hatched  away  from 
their  mother,  to  see  how  much  their  parents  had 
to  teach  them. 

He  found  that  these  little  orphans  had  to  be 
taught  to  pick  up  their  food,  and  to  know  what 
is  good  to  eat.  He  had  to  show  the  young 
ducks  how  to  dive,  and  teach  all  of  them  that 
water  is  good  to  drink. 

To  see  if  chickens  had  to  be  taught  the  hen 


40  THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

language,  he  put  them  out  by  their  mother 
when  they  were  a  few  days  old. 

The  hen  was  going  about  with  her  brood,  all 
brothers  and  sisters  of  Mr.  Morgan's  chicks, 
and  she  was  quite  ready  to  adopt  the  new  ones. 
She  clucked  and  called  to  them  with  all  her 
might,  but  they  did  not  come.  They  acted  as 
if  they  did  not  hear  her.  When  the  others  ran 
and  crept  under  her  wings  to  be  brooded,  the 
strangers  looked  on,  but  did  not  think  of  going 
too. 

They  did  not  understand  the  calls  or  the 
ways  of  their  own  mother.  They  had  not  been 
taught. 

A  careful  watcher  will  see  the  birds  teach 
these  things,  and  many  others  as  interesting. 
But  no  one  will  see  anything  unless  he  is  quiet, 
and  does  not  frighten  them. 


THE  BIRD   GROWN  UP 


XI 


THE    BIRD  S    LANGUAGE 

WHEN  the  bird  is  grown  up,  there  are  many 
other  interesting  things  to  know  about  him,— 
one  is,  whether  he  can  talk. 

It  is  plain  to  those  who  have  studied  the  ways 
of  birds,  that  they  are  able  to  tell  things  to  each 
other,  and  many  writers  have  said  plainly  that 
birds  have  a  language. 

If  you  notice  birds  in  cages,  you  will  find  that 
when  two  or  more  of  a  kind  are  in  the  same 
room,  you  will  hear  little  chirps  and  twitters 
and  other  notes,  not  at  all  like  their  song.  But 
if  one  is  alone  in  a  room,  he  hardly  makes  a 
sound  except  when  singing. 

Then  see  a  robin  out  of  doors.  He  is  less 
afraid  of  us  than  most  birds,  and  easiest  to 
watch.  If  something  comes  up  on  him  sud- 
denly, he  gives  a  sharp  note  of  surprise.  If  a 
cat  appears,  he  has  another  cry  which  every  one 
can  understand,  a  word  of  warning  to  all.  If 
everything  is  quiet  and  his  mate  is  near,  he  will 
greet  her  with  some  low,  sweet  notes. 


44  THE  BIRD  GROWN  UP 

When  a  partridge  mother  sees  danger,  she 
gives  one  call,  which  all  her  brood  know,  and  at 
once  run  and  hide.  When  the  hen  speaks  to 
her  chicks,  they  know  well  whether  it  means  to 
come  to  her,  or  to  run  away. 

Of  course  birds  do  not  use  our  words.  When 
it  is  said  that  the  quail  says  "  Bob  White,"  it  is 
meant  that  his  call  sounds  like  those  words. 
To  some  the  notes  sound  like  "  more  wet."  One 
may  call  it  almost  anything,  like  "  all  right "  or 
"  too  hot." 

You  will  read  in  books  about  birds,  that  a 
certain  warbler  says  "  Witches  here,"  or  that 
the  white-throated  sparrow  says  "  Old  Sam  Pea- 
body,"  and  other  birds  say  still  different  things. 
The  writer  means  that  the  words  remind  one  of 
the  bird's  notes,  and  so  it  is  useful  to  know 
them,  because  it  helps  you  to  know  the  bird 
when  you  hear  him. 

I  have  many  times  seen  birds  act  as  if  they 
were  talking  to  each  other.  You  can  often  see 
the  city  sparrows  do  so. 

There  is  nothing  in  a  bird's  ways  that  we  like 
so  well  as  his  singing.  And  in  all  the  many 
species  of  birds  in  the  world,  no  two  sing  exactly 
alike,  so  far  as  I  can  find  out.  You  may  always 
know  a  bird  by  his  song.  A  robin  does  not 
8ing  like  a  thrush  or  a  catbird.  And  what  is 


THE  BIRD'S  LANGUAGE  45 

more,  not  one  of  the  sounds  he  utters  is  like 
those  made  by  any  other  bird.  If  you  know 
him  well,  whatever  noise  he  makes,  you  will 
know  at  once  that  it  is  a  robin. 

But  there  is  something  still  more  curious 
about  it.  No  robin  sings  exactly  like  another 
robin.  When  you  come  to  know  one  bird  well, 
you  can  tell  his  song  from  any  other  bird's.  Of 
course,  all  robins  sing  enough  alike  for  one  to 
know  that  it  is  a  robin  song,  but  if  you  listen 
closely,  you  will  see  that  it  is  really  different 
from  all  others. 

Persons  who  have  kept  birds  in  cages  have 
noticed  the  same  thing. 

There  is  stiU  another  point  to  know.  One 
bird  does  not  always  sing  the  same  song.  I 
have  heard  a  song  sparrow  sing  five  or  six  differ- 
ent songs,  standing  all  the  time  in  plain  sight  on 
a  fence.  In  the  same  way  I  have  known  a  mea- 
dowlark  to  make  six  changes  in  his  few  notes. 

Besides  their  own  natural  songs,  many  birds 
like  to  copy  the  notes  of  others.  Our  mocking- 
bird is  very  fond  of  learning  new  things,  and  he 
does  not  always  choose  songs  either. 

He  will  imitate  the  noise  of  filing  a  saw,  or  the 
pop  of  a  cork,  as  readily  as  the  sweetest  song. 
I  have  heard  one  sing  the  canary's  song  better 
than  the  canary  himself. 


16  THE  BIRD  GROWN  UP 

Other  birds  can  do  the  same.  A  common 
English  sparrow  picked  up  in  the  streets  of  a 
big  city,  hurt,  and  not  able  to  fly,  was  put  into 
a  room  with  a  canary. 

No  doubt  the  wild  bird  found  his  life  in  a 
cage  rather  dull,  after  having  been  used  to  the 
streets,  and  he  soon  began  to  amuse  himself  try- 
ing to  do  as  the  canary  did,  to  sing.  In  a  few 
weeks  he  learned  the  whole  song,  and  he  could 
sing  it  even  better  than  his  roommate,  for  his 
voice  was  full  and  rich,  and  not  so  shrill  as  th« 
canary's. 

Most  people  think  that  birds  sing  all  summer. 
They  think  so  because  they  have  not  taken 
notice.  We  who  are  very  fond  of  bird  song 
know  it  is  not  so. 

Singing  begins  when  the  birds  first  come  in 
the  spring.  It  goes  on  while  the  nest  is  being 
built,  and  the  mother  bird  is  sitting.  The 
father  has  little  to  do  at  that  time,  and  so  he 
sings.  And  besides,  he  seems  to  be  so  happy 
that  he  cannot  help  it. 

But  when  little  ones  begin  to  call  for  food, 
he  has  to  be  very  busy,  and  does  not  have  so 
much  time  for  music.  Some  birds  stop  singing 
as  soon  as  they  go  to  feeding. 

But  not  all  do  so.  Many  go  on  singing  till 
they  begin  to  change  their  clothes,  or  to  moult. 


INDIGO-BIRD 


THE  BIRD'S  LANGUAGE  47 

as  it  is  called.  This  happens  in  August  or 
September,  and  when  it  begins,  a  bird  seems  to 
lose  his  voice. 

One  of  the  first  to  stop  singing  is  the  bobo- 
link. He  is  rarely  heard  after  June  is  past. 
The  veery  is  another  whose  singing  days  are 
over  early.  You  may  hear  his  call  in  the  woods, 
if  you  know  it,  but  not  a  song  will  you  hear 
after  the  middle  of  July. 

By  the  time  August  comes  in,  almost  every 
bird  is  silent,  except  for  his  calls  or  "talk." 
The  birds  to  be  heard  then  are  the  red-eyed 
vireo,  who  seems  never  to  tire,  and  now  and 
then  the  indigo-bird,  or  the  wood  pewee,  and 
best  of  all,  the  dear  little  song  sparrow,  who 
keeps  up  his  cheery  songs  till  the  very  last. 

Then  you  will  know  that  all  the  birds  are 
busy  putting  on  their  new  suits  for  their  long 
journey. 


xn 

WHAT  HE  BATS 

WHAT  the  bird  eats  and  where  he  gets  his 
food  are  useful  things  for  us  to  know.  It  has 
only  lately  been  found  out  that  birds  are  the 
most  valuable  of  helpers  to  us. 

What  we  cannot  eat  ourselves,  they  are  happy 
to  live  on,  and  things  that  make  us  a  great  deal 
of  trouble  are  their  daily  food. 

Some  of  the  things  they  are  fond  of  are 
little  animals,  like  mice  and  ground  squirrels, 
that  eat  our  crops.  Others  are  insects  which 
spoil  our  fruit  and  eat  up  our  vegetables,  canker- 
worms  and  cutworms,  and  a  hundred  more. 

Besides  these,  many  birds  eat  the  seeds  of  cer- 
tain weeds  that  farmers  have  to  fight  all  the 
time. 

One  reason  this  helps  us  so  greatly  is  that 
birds  eat  much  more  for  their  size  than  we  do. 
A  boy  of  six  or  eight  years  could  not  possibly 
eat  a  whole  sheep  in  one  day,  but  a  young  bird 
can  easily  eat  more  than  his  own  weight  every 
day. 


WHAT  HE  EATS  49 

They  want  more  than  three  meals  too.  They 
fleed  to  eat  very  often.  One  catbird  will  take 
thirty  grasshoppers  for  his  breakfast,  and  in  a 
few  hours  he  will  want  thirty  more.  So  he  de- 
stroys a  great  many  in  a  day. 

Birds  begin  eating  long  before  we  are  out  of 
bed,  and  keep  it  up  till  night  comes  again,  or  as 
long  as  they  can  see. 

You  must  not  think  the  birds  are  greedy,  as 
a  person  would  be  if  he  ate  every  few  minutes 
all  day.  They  are  made  to  do  so.  It  is  their 
business  to  destroy  insects,  small  animals,  and 
weeds  that  trouble  us  so  much,  and  the  more 
they  eat  the  better  for  us. 

Let  us  see  where  they  go  for  food.  Each 
bird  has  his  own  place  to  work. 

The  catbird  watches  the  fruit-trees,  and  all 
day  long  eats  insects  that  are  spoiling  our  fruit 
or  killing  the  trees.  When  the  cherries  are 
ripe,  we  should  not  forget  that  he  has  saved  the 
fruit  from  insects,  and  has  well  earned  a  share 
for  himself. 

If  you  spent  days  and  weeks  picking  off  in- 
sects, would  you  not  think  you  had  earned  part 
of  the  fruit  ?  "  For  every  cherry  he  eats  "  (says 
a  man  who  has  watched  him),  "  he  has  eaten  at 
least  one  thousand  insects." 

The    robin    eats  great   numbers  of  canker- 


60  THE  BIRD  GROWN  UP 

worms,  which  destroy  our  apples,  and  cutworms, 
which  kill  the  corn. 

The  bluebird  sits  on  the  fence  keeping  sharp 
watch,  and  every  few  minutes  flies  down  and 
picks  up  a  grasshopper  or  a  cricket,  or  some 
such  grass-eating  insect. 

Woodpeckers  hunt  over  the  trunks  and  limbs 
of  trees.  They  tap  on  the  bark  and  listen,  and 
if  they  hear  a  grub  stir  inside,  they  cut  a  hole 
in  the  bark  and  drag  it  out.  The  downy  is 
fond  of  insects  that  infest  our  apple-trees,  and 
he  makes  many  holes  in  the  trunks.  But  it 
does  not  hurt  the  trees.  It  is  good  for  them, 
for  it  takes  away  the  creatures  that  were  eating 
them. 

Orioles  go  over  the  fruit-trees,  and  pick  out 
tiny  insects  under  the  leaves,  and  when  they 
find  great  nests  on  the  branches,  they  tear  them 
open  and  kill  the  caterpillars  that  made  them. 

Little  warblers,  such  as  the  pretty  summer 
yellow-bird,  help  to  keep  our  trees  clear,  doing 
most  of  their  work  in  the  tops,  where  we  can 
hardly  see  them. 

Swallows  fly  about  in  the  air,  catching  mos- 
quitoes and  tiny  flies  that  trouble  us. 

Very  useful  to  us  are  the  birds  who  feed 
upon  dead  animals,  such  as  the  turkey  buzzards, 
who  may  be  seen  any  day  in  our  Southern 


WHAT  HE  EATS  51 

States,  soaring  about  high  in  the  air,  looking 
for  their  food. 

What  they  eat  is  so  very  unpleasant  to  us 
that  we  are  apt  to  despise  the  birds.  But  we 
should  cherish  and  feel  grateful  to  them  in- 
stead. For  they  are  doing  us  the  greatest  kind- 
ness. In  many  of  the  hot  countries  people 
could  not  live,  if  these  most  useful  birds  were 
killed. 

Some  persons  think  buzzards  find  their  food 
by  seeing  it,  and  others  are  just  as  sure  that 
they  smell  it.  Perhaps  they  use  both  senses. 


xm 

MORE  ABOUT    HIS   FOOD 

SOME  of  the  big  birds  work  all  the  time  for 
us.  When  you  see  a  hawk  sitting  very  still  on 
a  dead  limb,  what  do  you  suppose  he  is  doing  ? 

A  good  deal  of  the  time  he  is  looking  on  the 
ground  for  a  mouse,  or  a  ground  squirrel,  or  a 
rat,  or  some  creature  that  he  likes  to  eat. 

When  he  sees  one  of  them  move  in  the  grass, 
he  flies  down  and  pounces  upon  it.  Thus  he 
helps  the  farmer  greatly,  for  all  of  these  little 
animals  destroy  crops. 

When  it  grows  dark,  hawks  stop  work  and  go 
to  sleep.  Then  the  owls,  who  can  see  better  in 
the  dusk,  come  out  of  the  holes  where  they  have 
been  half  sleeping  all  day.  They  hunt  the  same 
little  creatures,  most  of  all  rats  and  mice,  which 
like  best  to  run  about  in  the  night. 

Perhaps  you  have  heard  that  hawks  and  owls 
carry  off  chickens.  Many  people  who  keep 
chickens  shoot  every  hawk  and  owl  they  see. 
But  if  they  knew  more  about  them  they  would 


MORE  ABOUT  HIS  FOOD  63 

not  do  so.  Only  two  of  the  common  hawka 
and  one  owl l  disturb  chickens.  All  the  others 
kill  thousands  of  the  little  animals  that  give  the 
farmers  so  much  trouble. 

Owls  have  a  curious  way  of  eating  mice. 
They  swallow  them  whole,  and  after  a  while 
they  throw  up  a  queer-looking  little  ball  made 
of  the  bones  and  fur  of  the  mouse. 

You  may  some  time  have  seen  a  long-legged 
heron  walking  about  on  the  seashore  or  in  the 
salt  marsh.  Now  and  then  he  would  thrust  his 
long,  sharp  bill  into  something,  and  lift  up  his 
head  and  swallow.  Or  you  have  noticed  a 
little  sandpiper  running  along  on  the  beach  or 
the  bank  of  a  river. 

The  heron  was  probably  eating  frogs  or  fish, 
and  the  sandpiper  some  of  the  small  sea  crea- 
tures thrown  up  by  the  waves.  If  these  were 
not  taken  away  they  would  be  very  bad  for  us, 
and  perhaps  make  us  sick. 

Not  less  useful  to  us  than  these  birds  are  the 
whole  family  of  finches.  The  goldfinch  in 
bright  yellow  coat,  the  purple  finch  in  red,  and 
the  sparrows  in  plain  brown.  All  of  these  are 
fond  of  seeds  as  well  as  insects,  and  most  of  all 
they  like  the  seeds  of  some  weeds  that  are  hard 
to  get  rid  of. 

1  Cooper's  and   sharp-shinned  hawks,  and  great  horned  OB 
hoot  owl. 


64  THE  BIRD  GROWN  UP 

The  goldfinch  is  called  the  thistle -bird,  be« 
cause  he  likes  best  the  seeds  of  thistles,  though 
he  eats  the  beggar's-ticks  too. 

The  chipping  spai-row,  the  little  red-headed 
bird  who  comes  about  our  doors,  eats  the  seeds 
of  fox-tail  and  crab  grasses,  that  spoil  our  lawns. 

The  white-throated  sparrow,  a  large  and  very 
pretty  bird,  eats  the  seeds  of  smartweed  and 
ragweed.  Other  finches  like  bittersweet,  sorrel, 
and  amaranth,  all  of  which  we  are  glad  to  have 
them  eat. 

The  seed-eating  birds  can  find  their  food  in 
winter,  even  when  snow  covers  the  ground,  be- 
cause the  dead  weeds  hold  on  to  their  seeds,  and 
the  snow  is  not  often  deep  enough  to  cover 
them. 

Some  birds  gather  their  food  in  the  fall,  and 
hide  it  away  where  they  can  find  it  in  winter. 
Blue  jays  collect  acorns  and  beech-nuts,  and 
store  them  in  a  hole  in  a  tree,  or  some  other 
safe  place,  to  eat  when  food  is  scarce.  A  wood- 
pecker who  lives  in  the  West  picks  holes  in  the 
bark  of  a  tree,  and  puts  an  acorn  into  each  one. 

The  oddest  store  I  know  of  was  made  by  a 
woodpecker.  He  found  a  long  crack  in  a  post, 
and  stuffed  it  full  of  live  grasshoppers.  He  did 
not  like  dead  grasshoppers.  He  wedged  them 
into  the  crack  so  tightly  that  they  could  not  get 


MORE  ABOUT  HIS  FOOD  66 

out,  and  I  do  not  know  that  they  \vanted  to. 
When  grasshoppers  were  scarce  in  the  fields,  he 
came  day  after  day  to  his  queer  storehouse,  till 
he  had  eaten  every  one. 

One  of  the  woodpecker  family  who  lives  in 
Mexico  stores  nuts  and  acorns  in  the  stems  of 
plants.  These  stems  are  hollow  and  made  in 
joints  like  bamboo.  The  bird  cuts  a  hole  at  the 
upper  end  of  a  joint,  and  stuffs  it  full.  When 
he  wants  his  nuts,  he  cuts  a  hole  at  the  lower 
end  of  the  joint  and  pulls  them  out. 

I  once  had  a  tame  blue  jay,  who  was  fond  of 
saving  what  he  could  not  eat,  and  putting  it 
safely  away.  The  place  he  seemed  to  think 
most  secure  was  somewhere  about  me,  and  he 
would  come  slyly  around  me  as  I  sat  at  work, 
and  try  to  hide  his  treasure  about  my  clothes. 

When  it  was  a  dried  currant  or  bit  of  bread, 
I  did  not  care ;  but  when  he  came  on  to  my 
shoulder,  and  tried  to  tuck  a  dead  meal  worm 
into  my  hair  or  between  my  lips,  or  a  piece  of 
raw  beef  under  a  ruffle  or  in  my  ear,  I  had  to 
decline  to  be  used  as  a  storehouse,  much  to  his 
grief. 

He  liked  to  put  away  other  things  as  well  as 
food.  Matches  he  seemed  to  think  were  made 
for  him  to  hide.  His  chosen  place  for  them  was 
between  the  breadths  of  matting  on  the  floor. 


56  THE  BIRD  GROWN  UP 

Once  he  found  a  parlor  match,  hunted  up  a 
good  opening,  and  put  it  in.  Then  he  went  on, 
as  he  always  did,  to  hammer  it  down  so  tightly 
that  it  would  stay.  One  of  the  blows  of  his 
hard  beak  struck  the  lighting  end  of  the  match, 
and  it  went  off  with  a  sharp  crack.  The  noise 
and  the  flame  which  burst  out  made  the  bird 
jump  three  feet,  and  scared  him  nearly  out  of 
his  senses. 

After  that  I  took  care  to  keep  the  matches 
out  of  the  way  of  a  bird  so  fond  of  hiding 
things. 


XIV 

WHERE  HE   SLEEPS 

MOST  birds  sleep  on  their  feet. 

You  know  how  a  canary  goes  to  sleep,  all 
puffed  out  like  a  ball,  with  his  head  buried  in 
the  feathers  of  his  shoulder.  He  may  stick  his 
bill  over  behind  the  top  of  the  wing,  but  he 
never  "  puts  his  head  under  his  wing,"  as  you 
have  heard. 

Sometimes  he  stands  straight  up  on  one  leg, 
with  the  other  drawn  up  out  of  sight  in  his  fea- 
thers, but  more  often  he  sits  down  on  the  perch, 
still  resting  on  his  feet.  Most  wild  birds  of  the 
perching  kind  sleep  in  the  same  way. 

It  is  only  lately  that  we  have  begun  to  find 
out  where  birds  sleep,  because  it  is  dark  when 
they  go  to  bed,  and  they  get  up  before  it  is 
light  enough  for  us  to  see  them. 

The  only  way  to  catch  them  in  bed  is  to  go 
out  in  the  evening,  and  start  them  up  after  they 
have  gone  to  sleep.  And  this  is  not  very  kind 
to  the  poor  little  birds.  Some  men  who  are  try 


58  THE  BIRD  GROWN  UP 

ing  to  learn  about  the  habits  of  birds  have  tried 
this  way,  and  so  have  found  out  some  of  their 
sleeping-places. 

One  thing  they  have  learned  is  that  the  nest 
is  not  often  used  for  a  bed,  except  for  the 
mother,  while  she  is  sitting  and  keeping  her 
little  ones  warm. 

Robins  and  orioles,  and  others,  creep  into  the 
thick  branches  of  an  evergreen  tree,  close  up  to 
the  trunk.  Some  crawl  under  the  edge  of  a 
haystack,  others  into  thick  vines  or  thorny 
bushes.  All  these  are  meant  for  hiding-places, 
so  that  beasts  which  prowl  about  at  night,  and 
like  to  eat  birds,  will  not  find  them. 

Tree  sparrows  like  to  sleep  in  holes  in  the 
ground  like  little  caves.  The  men  who  found 
these  cosy  little  bedrooms  think  they  are  places 
dug  out  by  field  mice,  and  other  small  animals, 
for  their  own  use.  And  when  they  are  left,  the 
birds  are  glad  to  take  them. 

When  the  weather  is  cold,  some  birds  sleep 
under  the  snow.  You  may  think  that  would 
not  be  very  warm,  and  it  is  not  so  warm  as  a 
bed  in  the  house  with  plenty  of  blankets.  But 
it  is  much  warmer  than  a  perch  in  a  tree,  with 
nothing  but  leaves  to  keep  off  the  wind. 

While  the  snow  is  falling,  some  birds  find  it 
as  good  as  blankets  for  their  use.  Grouse,  who 


WHERE  HE  SLEEPS  6& 

live  on  the  ground,  dive  into  a  snow-bank,  and 
snuggle  down  quietly,  while  the  snow  falls  and 
covers  them  all  over,  and  keeps  the  cold  wind  off. 
Air  comes  through  the  snow,  so  they  do  not 
smother. 

Some  birds  creep  into  a  pile  of  brush  that  is 
covered  with  snow,  and  find  under  the  twigs 
little  places  like  tents,  where  the  snow  has  been 
kept  out  by  the  twigs,  and  they  sleep  there, 
away  from  the  wind  and  storm  outside. 

Water  birds  find  the  best  sleeping-places  on 
the  water,  where  they  float  all  night  like  tiny 
boats.  Some  of  them  leave  one  foot  hanging 
down  and  paddling  a  little,  while  they  sleep,  to 
keep  from  being  washed  to  the  shore. 

Bob-white  and  his  family  sleep  in  a  close 
circle  on  the  ground,  all  with  their  heads  turned 
outward,  so  that  they  can  see  or  hear  an  enemy, 
whichever  way  he  comes. 

Hawks  and  eagles  are  said  to  sleep  standing, 
never  sitting  on  the  feet  like  a  canary.  Some 
ducks  and  geese  do  even  more :  they  sleep  stand- 
ing on  one  foot.  Woodpeckers  and  chimney 
swifts  hang  themselves  up  by  their  claws,  using 
their  stiff  tail  for  a  brace,  as  if  it  were  a  third 
leg. 

Some  birds,  like  the  crows,  sleep  in  great 
flocks.  They  agree  upon  a  piece  of  woods,  and 


60  THE  BIRD  GROWN  UP 

all  the  crows  for  miles  around  come  there  every 
night.  Sometimes  thousands  sleep  in  this  one 
bedroom,  called  a  crow  roost.  Robins  do  the 
same,  after  the  young  are  big  enough  to  fly  so 
far. 

Audubon,  who  has  told  us  so  much  about 
birds,  once  found  a  hollow  tree  which  was  the 
sleeping  -  room  of  chimney  swifts.  The  noise 
they  made  going  out  in  the  morning  was  like  the 
roar  of  a  great  mill-wheel. 

He  wanted  to  see  the  birds  asleep.  So  in  the 
daytime,  when  they  were  away,  he  had  a  piece 
cut  out  at  the  foot  of  the  tree,  big  enough  to  let 
him  in,  and  then  put  back,  so  the  birds  would 
not  notice  anything  unusual. 

At  night,  after  the  swifts  were  abed,  he  took 
a  dark  lantern  and  went  in.  He  turned  the 
light  upon  them  little  by  little,  so  as  not  to  startle 
them.  Then  he  saw  the  whole  inside  of  the 
tree  full  of  birds.  They  were  hanging  by  their 
claws,  side  by  side,  as  thick  as  they  could  hang. 
He  thought  there  were  as  many  as  twelve  thou- 
sand in  that  one  bedroom. 


AMERICAN  ROBIN 


!i 


XV 

HIS   TRAVELS 

MOST  of  our  birds  take  two  long  journeys 
every  year,  one  in  the  fall  to  the  south,  and  the 
other  in  the  spring  back  to  the  north.  These 
journeys  are  called  "  migrations." 

The  birds  do  not  go  all  at  once,  but  in  many 
cases  those  of  a  kind  who  live  near  each  other 
collect  in  a  flock  and  travel  together.  Each 
species  or  kind  has  its  own  time  to  go. 

It  might  be  thought  that  it  is  because  of  the 
cold  that  so  many  birds  move  to  a  warmer  cli- 
mate. But  it  is  not  so ;  they  are  very  well 
dressed  to  endure  cold.  Their  feather  suits  are 
so  warm  that  some  of  our  smallest  and  weakest 
birds  are  able  to  stay  with  us,  like  the  chickadee 
and  the  golden-crowned  kinglet.  It  is  simply 
because  they  cannot  get  food  in  winter,  that  they 
have  to  go. 

The  fall  travel  begins  soon  after  the  first  of 
July.  The  bobolink  is  one  of  the  first  to  leave 
us,  though  he  does  not  start  at  once  on  his  long 


62  THE  BIRD  GROWN  UP 

journey.  By  that  time  his  little  folk  are  full 
grown,  and  can  take  care  of  themselves,  and  he 
is  getting  on  his  winter  suit,  or  moulting. 

Then  some  morning  all  the  bobolinks  in  the 
country  are  turned  out  of  their  homes  in  the 
meadows,  by  men  and  horses  and  mowing-ma- 
chines, for  at  that  time  the  long  grass  is  ready 
to  cut. 

Then  he  begins  to  think  about  the  wild  rice 
which  is  getting  just  right  to  eat.  Besides,  he 
likes  to  take  his  long  journey  to  South  America 
in  an  easy  way,  stopping  here  and  there  as  he 
goes.  So  some  morning  we  miss  his  cheerful 
call,  and  if  we  go  to  the  meadow  we  shall  not  be 
able  to  see  a  single  bobolink. 

There,  too,  are  the  swallows,  who  eat  only 
small  flying  insects.  As  the  weather  grows 
cooler,  these  tiny  flies  are  no  longer  to  be  found. 
So  the  swallows  begin  to  flock,  as  it  is  called. 
For  a  few  days  they  will  be  seen  on  fences  and 
telegraph  wires,  chattering  and  making  a  great 
noise,  and  then  some  morning  they  will  all  be 
gone. 

They  spend  some  time  in  marshes,  and  other 
lonely  places,  before  they  at  last  set  out  for  the 
south. 

As  the  days  grow  shorter  and  cooler,  the  war- 
blers go.  These  are  the  bright-colored  little 


HIS  TRAVELS  63 

fellows,  who  live  mostly  in  the  tops  of  trees. 
Then  the  orioles  and  the  thrushes  and  the  cuckoos 
leave  us,  and  most  birds  who  live  on  insects. 

By  the  time  that  November  comes  in,  few  of 
them  will  be  left.  Birds  who  can  live  on  seeds 
and  winter  berries,  such  as  cedar -berries  and 
partridge-berries,  and  others,  often  stay  with  us, 
—  bluebirds,  finches,  and  sometimes  robins. 

Many  birds  take  their  journey  by  night. 
Think  of  it !  Tiny  creatures,  that  all  summer 
go  to  bed  at  dark,  start  off  some  night,  when  it 
seems  as  if  they  ought  to  be  asleep,  and  fly  all 
night  in  the  dark. 

When  it  grows  light,  they  stop  in  some  place 
where  they  can  feed  and  rest.  And  the  next 
night,  or  two  or  three  nights  later,  they  go  on 
again.  So  they  do  till  they  reach  their  winter 
home,  hundreds  or  thousands  of  miles  away. 

These  night  flyers  are  the  timid  birds,  and 
those  who  live  in  the  woods,  and  do  not  like  to 
be  seen,  —  thrushes,  wrens,  vireos,  and  others. 
Birds  with  strong  wings,  who  are  used  to  fly- 
ing hours  every  day,  and  bolder  birds,  who  do 
not  mind  being  seen,  take  their  journey  by  day- 
light. 

Most  of  them  stop  now  and  then,  a  day  or 
two  at  a  time,  to  feed  and  rest.  They  fly  very 
high,  and  faster  than  our  railroad  trains  can  go. 


64  THE  BIRD  GROWN  UP 

In  the  spring  the  birds  take  their  second  long 
journey,  back  to  their  last  year's  home. 

How  they  know  then*  way  on  these  journeys, 
men  have  been  for  many  years  trying  to  find  out. 
They  have  found  that  birds  travel  on  regular 
roads,  or  routes,  that  follow  the  rivers  and  the 
shore  of  the  ocean.  They  can  see  much  better 
than  we  can,  and  even  in  the  night  they  can  see 
water. 

One  such  road,  or  highway,  is  over  the  har- 
bor of  New  York.  When  the  statue  of  Liberty 
was  set  up  on  an  island  in  the  harbor  a  few 
years  ago,  it  was  put  in  the  birds'  path. 

Usually  they  fly  too  high  to  mind  it ;  but  when 
there  is  a  rain  or  fog  they  come  much  lower, 
and,  sad  to  say,  many  of  them  fly  against  it  and 
are  killed. 

We  often  see  strange  birds  in  our  city  streets 
and  parks,  while  they  are  passing  through  on 
their  migrations,  for  they  sometimes  spend  sev- 
eral days  with  us. 

A  sparrow,  who  was  hurt  and  unable  to  fly, 
was  picked  up  one  fall  and  kept  in  a  house  all 
winter.  He  was  not  caged,  and  he  chose  for 
his  headquarters  and  sleeping-place  a  vase  that 
stood  on  a  shelf. 

He  went  with  the  family  to  the  table,  and 
made  himself  very  much  at  home  there.  He 


HIS  TRAVELS  66 

picked  out  what  he  wanted  to  eat  and  drink,  and 
scolded  well  if  he  did  not  have  it. 

The  thing  he  liked  best  was  butter,  and  when 
he  was  ready  to  wipe  his  bill  after  eating,  as 
birds  do,  he  found  the  coat-sleeve  of  the  master 
soft  and  nice  for  the  purpose.  This  pleased  the 
bird  better  than  it  did  the  owner  of  the  sleeve, 
but  he  tried  in  vain  to  keep  the  saucy  fellow 
off.  If  he  forgot  for  an  instant  to  watch  the 
bird,  he  would  dash  up,  wipe  off  the  butter,  and 
fly  away  out  of  the  reach  of  everybody. 

In  the  spring  the  sparrow  left  the  family,  and 
lived  out  of  doors.  But,  with  the  first  cold 
weather  of  fall,  he  came  back,  went  to  his  old 
vase,  and  settled  himself  for  the  winter  again. 
This  he  did  for  several  years. 


XVI 

HIS   WINTER    HOME 

NEARLY  every  bird  has  two  homes,  one  foi 
winter  and  one  for  summer. 

We  can  see  why  birds  leave  us  and  go  to  a 
warmer  and  better  place  for  the  winter  ;  but  why 
they  do  not  stay  in  that  country  where  there  is 
always  plenty  of  food,  but  choose  to  come  back 
in  the  spring  to  their  old  home,  we  do  not 
know. 

It  may  be  because  they  want  more  room  to 
build  nests,  and  bring  up  their  little  ones.  Or 
it  may  be  that  they  want  to  come  back  because 
they  love  their  old  home. 

Whatever  may  be  the  reason,  it  is  well  for  us 
that  they  do  so,  for  if  we  had  no  more  birds  in 
the  summer  than  we  have  in  the  winter,  we 
should  suffer  very  much  from  insects.  We 
could  not  raise  fruit,  or  vegetables,  or  grain,  for 
insects  would  eat  it  all.  That  is  one  reason  we 
are  so  glad  that  birds  come  back  to  us  in  the 
gpring. 


HIS  WINTER  HOME  67 

Though  so  many  birds  leave  us  in  the  fall, 
they  do  not  all  go.  A  few  come  to  us  who  have 
nested  farther  north,  and  some  who  have  been 
with  us  all  summer  stay  over  winter  too.  These 
last  are  called  "  permanent  residents/'  that  is, 
they  stay  all  the  year  round. 

In  the  Middle  States  of  the  East  —  New  York, 
Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  and  Ohio  —  there  are 
twenty  or  twenty-five  who  stay  all  the  year. 
There  are  several  hawks  and  owls  and  wood- 
peckers, the  crow,  bob-white,  the  blue  jay,  and 
the  meadowlark,  and,  of  the  little  ones,  the  gold- 
finch, in  his  sober  winter  coat,  his  cousin  the 
purple  finch,  the  song  sparrow,  the  nuthatch, 
and  the  chickadee. 

Besides  these  "permanent  residents,"  there 
are  ten  or  twelve  who  come  from  the  north. 
The  funny  little  saw-whet  owl  is  one,  and  the 
snowflake,  who  loves  to  frolic  in  the  snow,  is 
another. 

Many  of  our  summer  birds  stay  in  the  South- 
ern States  all  winter.  Those  who  can  eat  seeds 
and  winter  berries  —  for  instance,  robins  and 
bluebirds,  catbirds  and  sparrows  —  need  not  go 
very  far  south  ;  and  some  of  them  even  stay 
in  the  State  of  New  York. 

Most  of  our  birds  who  do  not  eat  berries,  but 
must  have  insects,  go  farther,  some  to  Florida 


68  THE  BIRD  GROWN  UP 

or  the  West  Indies,  others  to  Central  America, 
and  a  few  even  into  South  America,  —  except 
the  woodpecker,  who  gets  his  insects  under  the 
bark  of  trees. 

The  summer  birds  of  the  Western  States  nearly 
all  go  to  Mexico  for  the  winter. 

The  little  birds  who  stay  with  us  are  only 
those  who  can  eat  seeds,  as  I  said,  or  the  eggs 
and  insects  to  be  found  in  the  crevices  of  the 
bark  on  trees.  These  birds  do  a  great  deal  of 
good,  for  each  one  destroys  thousands  of  insects 
before  they  have  come  out  of  the  egg.  One 
small  chickadee  will  eat  several  hundred  insect 
eggs  in  a  day. 

These  little  fellows  can  almost  always  find 
their  food,  for  the  snow  seldom  covers  the  trunks 
of  the  trees  ;  but  now  and  then  in  the  winter 
we  have  an  ice  storm ;  then  the  trunks  and 
branches  are  buried  under  ice,  so  that  the  bird, 
suffer,  and  perhaps  will  starve  to  death. 

In  such  a  time  it  will  be  kind  of  you  who 
live  in  the  country  to  put  out  food  for  them. 
You  can  give  them  any  table  scraps  of  meat  or 
vegetables,  or  bread,  chopped  fine  for  their  tiny 
mouths,  with  corn  or  grain  for  bigger  birds. 

What  they  all  like  best  to  eat  is  suet,  —  which 
the  butcher  will  give  you,  —  chopped  fine,  or, 
better  still,  nailed  or  tied  to  a  branch  or  a  fence, 


HIS  WINTER  HOME  69 

so  that  they  can  pick  off  morsels  for  them- 
selves. This  will  make  them  all  very  happy  ; 
but  you  must  see  that  the  English  sparrow  does 
not  drive  them  away,  or  eat  it  all  himself. 

Some  persons  who  live  in  the  country  or 
email  towns  spread  a  table  every  day  through 
the  winter  for  the  birds.  Many  come  for  food, 
and  they  have  great  pleasure  in  watching  them 
and  studying  their  ways. 

One  lady  I  know  who  is  an  invalid,  and  her 
greatest  happiness  in  the  long  cold  months,  when 
she  cannot  go  out,  is  to  set  her  breakfast-table, 
and  watch  the  guests  who  come  to  it. 

She  lives  in  the  southern  part  of  Ohio,  and 
she  has  all  winter  cardinal  grosbeaks,  or  red- 
birds  as  she  calls  them,  blue  jays,  tufted  titmice, 
and  others.  The  cardinals  are  fine  singers,  and 
they  sing  to  her  every  month  in  the  year. 


xvn 

HIS   FAMILY   AND    FRIENDS 

MANY  people  think  that  as  soon  as  the  young 
birds  of  a  nest  are  full  grown,  and  know  how  to 
take  care  of  themselves,  the  family  separate,  and 
have  no  more  to  do  with  each  other.  Some  have 
even  said  that  the  old  birds  push  the  little  ones 
out  of  the  nest  to  get  rid  of  them. 

All  this  is  a  great  mistake,  and  any  one  who 
has  watched  them  carefully  will  say  so. 

In  many  cases,  when  the  brood  is  grown  and 
all  have  left  the  nest,  the  whole  family  keep  to- 
gether. One  who  has  eyes  sharp  to  see  will  find 
everywhere  little  groups  of  parents  with  their 
young.  If  the  old  birds  rear  more  than  one 
brood  in  a  summer,  the  young  ones  of  the  first 
nest  keep  together. 

I  have  often  seen  little  parties  of  young  blue- 
birds or  sparrows  going  about  after  food  on  the 
grass,  or  on  the  newly  cut  hay.  Now  and  then 
one  of  the  parents  would  come  around  as  if  to 
see  that  all  was  well,  and  then  leave  them  alone 


HIS  FAMILY  AND  FRIENDS  71 

again.  When  the  second  brood  is  ready  to  go 
out,  the  whole  family  often  unite  in  a  small  flock. 
In  some  cases,  where  they  could  be  watched,  they 
have  been  known  to  stay  so  all  winter.  All 
through  July  and  August,  in  the  New  England 
and  Middle  States,  one  may  see  these  pretty  little 
family  groups. 

Some  birds  who  live  and  nest  by  themselves, 
each  pair  in  its  own  tree,  or  bush,  or  field,  come 
together  in  larger  parties  after  the  young  are 
grown,  in  a  social  way.  A  few  do  this  only  at 
night,  in  what  are  called  roosts,  which  I  spoke 
of  in  a  former  chapter. 

Other  birds,  when  nestlings  are  out,  unite  in 
flocks,  and  stay  so  all  the  time,  or  through  the 
winter.  Our  pretty  little  goldfinch  does  this. 

Most  of  the  birds  we  see  about  our  homes  like 
to  have  a  tree  or  bush  to  themselves  for  their 
nest.  But  there  are  many  birds  that  live  close 
together  all  the  time.  Some,  you  may  say,  in 
small  villages,  —  swallows,  for  instance.  We 
generally  see  several  swallows  flying  about  to- 
gether. They  make  their  nests  near  each  other. 
The  barn  swallow  chooses  the  beams  inside  the 
barn,  and  there  are  often  three  or  four  or  more 
nests  in  the  same  barn. 

The  eave  swallows  put  their  mud  cottages  in 
a  row,  under  the  eaves  outside  the  barn.  One 


72  THE  BIRD  GROWN  UP 

would  think  they  needed  to  have  numbers  on 
their  doors,  to  know  which  was  their  own. 

There,  too,  are  the  common  crow  blackbirds. 
They  come  in  the  spring  in  crowds,  and  when  it 
is  time  to  make  nests,  they  find  some  grove  or 
clump  of  trees  that  suits  them,  and  all  of  them 
build  their  nests  close  together.  Often  there  are 
two  or  three  on  one  tree,  like  a  bird  city.  There 
they  live  and  rear  their  little  ones,  and  it  is  said 
they  never  quarrel. 

Then  there  are  the  birds  who  get  their  food 
from  the  sea,  such  as  penguins.  These  birds  live 
in  big  cities,  of  many  thousand  nests.  They  go 
to  an  island  where  no  people  live,  and  build  on 
the  ground,  or  on  rocks,  or  anywhere. 

Sometimes  they  are  so  near  together  one  can 
hardly  walk  without  stepping  on  them.  How 
each  mother  can  tell  her  own,  it  is  hard  to  see. 
They  live  very  happily  together,  and  if  a  mother 
is  killed,  so  that  her  little  ones  are  left  orphans, 
one  of  the  neighbors  will  adopt  them  all,  and 
feed  and  bring  them  up  with  her  own. 

Some  of  these  birds  do  not  even  take  the 
trouble  to  make  a  nest.  They  put  the  eggs  any- 
where on  the  sand  or  earth. 

Some  one,  Mr.  Brehm,  I  think,  tells  a  pretty 
story  about  a  certain  kind  of  duck  who  rears  two 
broods  every  season.  After  the  ducklings  of  the 


HIS  FAMILY  AND  FRIENDS  73 

first  brood  have  learned  to  take  care  of  them- 
selves, they  go  about  together,  getting  their  food 
and  sailing  on  the  water  in  a  little  party,  while 
their  parents  are  hatching  the  second  brood. 
But  when  the  younger  ones  are  big  enough, 
they  are  led  to  the  water,  and  at  once  their  elder 
brothers  and  sisters  join  them.  They  all  swim 
around  together,  the  youngest  in  the  middle  of 
the  group,  where  they  are  protected  and  fed  by 
the  elder  brood  as  well  as  by  the  parents,  a  lovely 
and  united  little  family. 


XVIIX 

HIS    KINDNESS   TO    OTHERS 

BIRDS  are  helpful  to  each  other  when  in 
trouble.  If  a  robin  is  in  distress,  other  robins 
will  come  to  see  what  is  the  matter,  and  to  help 
if  they  can.  And  not  only  robins,  but  catbirds^ 
and  orioles,  and  chickadees,  and  others,  will 
come,  too. 

Sometimes  when  a  person  tries  to  rob  a  nest, 
all  the  birds  near  will  come  in  a  crowd,  to  drive 
away  the  thief.  They  will  cry  and  scream  at 
him,  and  sometimes  fly  at  his  face,  and  try  to 
peck  his  eyes. 

Birds  are  so  little  they  cannot  fight  a  man, 
but  if  they  can  peck  at  his  face,  they  can  hurt 
him,  and  if  they  really  get  at  his  eyes,  they  can 
put  them  out.  We  cannot  blame  the  birds  for 
trying  to  protect  themselves  and  their  young, 
and  it  is  well  for  boys  to  be  careful  how  they 
disturb  a  nest. 

One  proof  that  birds  really  do  help  each 
other  is  the  fact  that  when  a  man  wants  to  know 


HIS  KINDNESS  TO  OTHERS  75 

what  birds  live  in  a  place,  he  can  bring  them  all 
around  him  by  making  a  sound  like  a  young 
bird  in  distress.  All  who  hear  it  will  come  to 
see  what  is  the  matter. 

Let  me  tell  you  a  story  of  some  young  swal- 
lows. They  were  able  to  fly  a  little,  and  were 
sitting  together  on  a  roof,  when  a  lady  who 
was  watching  them  noticed  that  one  of  them 
seemed  to  be  weak,  and  not  able  to  stand  up. 

When  the  parents  came  with  food,  the  others 
stood  up  and  opened  their  mouths,  and  so  were 
fed,  but  this  little  one  hardly  ever  got  a  morsel. 

If  birds  had  no  love  for  each  other,  as  many 
people  think,  these  strong  little  ones  would  not 
have  cared  if  their  brother  did  starve;  but  what 
did  the  lady  see?  She  says  that  two  of  the 
strong  young  swallows  came  close  up  to  their 
weak  brother,  one  on  each  side.  They  put  their 
beaks  under  his  breast  and  lifted  him  up  on  t^ 
his  legs,  and  then  crowded  so  close  against  him 
that  their  little  bodies  propped  him  up,  and  held 
him  there;  so  that  he  had  his  chance  of  being 
fed  as  well  as  they. 

Many  times  birds  have  been  seen  who  were 
blind  or  old,  or  who  had  a  wing  or  a  leg  broken, 
or  were  in  some  way  hurt  so  that  they  could  not 
take  care  of  themselves,  and  who  were  being 
waited  upon  by  other  birds,  fed,  and  led  to  the 
water  to  drink  and  bathe. 


78  THE  BIRD  GROWN  UP 

Birds  have  been  found  caught  in  the  lining  of 
a  nest,  so  that  they  were  held  there  and  could 
not  go  for  food.  They  had  been  there  for 
weeks,  and  would  have  starved  to  death  if  they 
had  not  been  fed.  Yet  they  were  so  well  taken 
care  of  by  other  birds  that  they  were  strong  and 
able  to  fly. 

In  one  case,  where  the  nest  was  in  a  tree  trunk, 
the  hole  in  the  trunk  had  grown  up,  so  that 
when  big  enough  to  fly,  they  could  not  get  out, 
and  they  had  been  there  for  months.  Yet  when 
a  man  cut  open  the  trunk  and  let  them  out,  they 
were  well  and  lively,  proving  that  they  had  been 
fed  by  friends  outside  all  that  time. 

I  could  tell  you  many  true  stories  of  the  kind 
care  of  birds  for  each  other,  and  for  baby  birds 
who  had  lost  their  parents,  or  been  stolen  away 
from  them. 

A  gentleman  in  Massachusetts  told  me  that 
when  he  was  a  boy  he  saw  a  small  flock  of  che- 
winks  who  came  about  a  house  where  food  was 
put  out  for  birds.  They  came  every  day,  and  he 
soon  saw  that  one  was  bigger  than  the  rest,  and 
that  he  never  tried  to  pick  up  anything  for  him- 
self, but  all  the  others  fed  him. 

One  day  he  was  cruel  enough  to  throw  a  stone 
at  the  bird  who  was  so  well  taken  care  of,  and 
when  he  took  up  his  victim,  he  found  that  the 


CHEWINK,  OR  TOWHEE 


HIS  KINDNESS  TO  OTHERS  77 

upper  and  lower  parts  of  his  bill  were  crossed, 
so  that  he  could  not  pick  up  anything  from  the 
ground,  where  chewinks  find  their  food.  He 
had  been  born  thus  deformed,  and  if  he  had  not 
been  fed  every  day  by  his  friends  he  must  have 
starved  to  death.  Yet  so  well  had  he  been  cared 
for  that  he  was  better  grown  than  any  of  the 
others. 


HIS   AFFECTIONS 

I  AM  sure  I  need  not  say  that  father  and 
mother  birds  love  their  little  ones. 

So  much  does  the  mother  love  her  nestlings 
that  she  is  often  willing  to  die  for  them.  Orioles 
and  chickadees  will  let  themselves  be  caught  in 
the  hand  of  one  who  has  taken  their  young, 
rather  than  desert  them. 

Some  birds  live  in  our  chimneys,  generally  in 
a  flue  that  is  not  in  use,  and  are  called  chimney 
swifts.  If  a  chimney  takes  fire  the  mother  swift 
tries  hard  to  get  her  little  ones  out,  but  if  they 
cannot  fly,  she  has  been  seen  to  fly  into  the  fire 
herself,  and  die  with  them. 

Robins  have  been  found  frozen  to  death  on 
their  nest.  They  could  easily  have  saved  them- 
selves, but  they  would  not  leave  their  young  ones 
to  perish.  A  ground  bird  has  been  known  to  sit 
on  her  nest  during  a  freezing  storm,  till  she  died, 
rather  than  go  and  leave  her  little  ones  to  suffer. 

Once  when  a  young  cedar-bird  was   caught 


HIS  AFFECTIONS  79 

and  carried  off,  the  father  followed  it  for  miles, 
crying  and  showing  so  much  distress  that  the 
man  who  had  stolen  it  was  sorry  for  him,  and 
let  the  little  one  go. 

Every  one  who  has  watched  them  knows  that 
birds  love  their  mates.  A  man  once  shot  a  sea 
bird,  when  her  mate  came  about  him,  crying 
and  showing  his  grief  as  well  as  if  he  could 
speak. 

I  could  easily  fill  a  book  with  stories  to  prove 
that  birds  are  loving  to  their  mates  and  young, 
and  all  of  them  true. 

It  does  not  seem  strange  that  birds  are  fond 
of  their  own,  but  they  love  others  also.  And 
not  only  other  birds,  but  even  animals  like  cats, 
dogs,  and  horses  sometimes. 

I  once  had  an  English  goldfinch  in  the  house. 
He  was  a  little  fellow,  not  so  big  as  a  canary, 
and  he  was  very  fond  of  another  bird  in  the 
room.  This  was  a  scarlet  tanager,  who  was 
much  larger  than  himself. 

The  small  bird  showed  his  love  for  his  red 
friend,  just  as  people  show  love,  by  staying 
close  to  him,  singing  to  him,  and  driving  away 
any  bird  who  came  too  near. 

A  lady  once  told  me  this  story  showing  the 
love  of  a  pigeon  for  a  cat.  The  cat  was  fond 
of  lying  on  the  broad  window  sill.  When  the 


80  THE  BIRD  GROWN  UP 

pigeon  saw  her  there,  he  would  fly  down,  and 
alight  beside  her.  Then  he  would  press  up 
close  to  her,  and  rub  against  her  fur,  as  if  glad 
to  see  her,  and  the  cat  seemed  to  enjoy  it  as 
much  as  the  bird. 

Often  a  bird  who  is  tamed  loves  his  human 
friends.  A  man  had  a  crow  who  was  very  fond 
of  him.  He  had  reared  the  bird  from  the  nest 
and  never  shut  him  up,  but  let  him  fly  about 
wherever  he  chose. 

One  day  he  was  out  in  a  sudden  rain,  and  his 
feathers  got  wet,  so  that  he  could  not  fly  well. 
Then  a  boy  caught  him,  and  carried  him  seven 
miles  away.  He  clipped  one  wing,  so  that  the 
crow  could  not  fly,  and  kept  him  shut  in  the 
house  all  winter.  In  the  spring,  the  first  time  he 
could  get  out,  the  bird  started  for  his  old  home. 

He  could  not  fly,  but  he  walked  the  seven 
miles,  through  mud  and  wet,  and  came  home  so 
tired  that  he  was  almost  dead.  When  his  mas- 
ter saw  him  coming  he  went  to  meet  him,  toot 
him  up  and  petted  him,  and  talked  to  him. 

The  poor  fellow  was  so  happy  it  seemed  as  il 
he  could  not  live.  But  he  was  taken  care  of, 
and  got  well,  and  lived  many  years.  But  never 
after  that  would  he  leave  the  place,  though 
when  his  new  feathers  came  in  he  could  fly  as 
well  as  ever. 


HOUSE  WREN 


HIS  AFFECTIONS  81 

Canary  birds  often  love  their  mistresses.  I 
have  heard  of  one  who  was  so  grieved  by  a  harsh 
word,  that  in  a  few  minutes  he  fell  off  his  perch 
dead. 

These  true  stories  show  us  how  tender  and 
loving  these  little  creatures  are,  and  how  careful 
we  should  be  to  treat  them  gently  and  kindly. 

An  interesting  and  true  story  is  told  by  a 
clergyman  in  Ohio.  It  is  a  habit  of  wrens  to 
find  a  good  nesting-place,  and  then  look  for  a 
mate  to  occupy  it.  One  spring  a  wren  chose  a 
nice  bird-box  on  his  place,  and  held  it  ready  for 
the  expected  bride.  But  she  did  not  come,  and 
a  pair  of  English  sparrows  took  a  fancy  to  the 
same  house. 

Sparrows  expect  to  get  what  they  want,  and 
are  always  ready  to  fight  for  it,  so  they  gave 
battle  to  the  wren.  But  wrens  also  will  fight 
for  their  own,  and  this  wren  held  his  house 
against  the  enemy  for  two  weeks.  Still  the 
mate  did  not  appear,  and  finally  the  lonely  bird 
lost  heart,  and  let  the  sparrows  set  up  house- 
keeping in  his  box,  though  he  did  not  go  away. 

When  the  young  sparrows  were  hatched,  and 
feeding  began,  the  wren  suddenly  became 
friendly.  He  hunted  up  small  green  worms, 
probably  such  as  are  good  for  wrenlings,  and 
offered  them  to  the  young  sparrows. 


82 


THE  BIRD  GROWN  UP 


Nestlings  are  never  known  to  refuse  anything 
to  eat,  and  wren  food  seemed  to  suit  the  sparrows, 
for  they  soon  outgrew  the  nursery. 

All  summer  this  queer  thing  went  on.  The 
sparrows  reared  three  or  four  broods,  and  the 
wren  did  his  full  share  of  the  work,  —  and  not 
only  of  feeding  the  young,  but  of  repairing  and 
rebuilding  the  nest  for  each  fresh  brood. 


XX 


HIS   INTELLIGENCE 

BEFORE  people  knew  very  much  about  the 
ways  of  birds,  it  was  thought  that  they  did  not 
have  to  be  taught  anything,  but  that  they  knew 
everything  they  needed  to  know,  as  soon  as  they 
were  born.  That  is,  they  were  said  to  act  from 
instinct  alone,  and  not  at  all  from  reason,  as  we 
do. 

Another  notion  that  people  had  was  that  birds 
of  a  kind  were  just  alike ;  that  they  looked  ex- 
actly like  each  other,  all  acted  in  the  same  way, 
and  all  sang  the  same  song. 

But  since  we  have  begun  to  study  birds  more 
closely,  we  find  these  things  are  not  true.  We 
find  that  birds  learn  things  by  being  taught,  as 
we  do.  Also,  they  find  out  how  to  do  things 
themselves,  and  they  are  not  all  alike,  as  so  many 
machines. 

More  than  this,  we  see  that  they  do  not  look 
nor  act  exactly  like  each  other.  For  when  we 
know  one  robin  or  one  oriole  well,  we  can  tell 


84  THE  BIRD  GROWN  UP 

him  from  any  other  robin  or  oriole.  And,  as  1 
said  before,  no  two  of  a  kind  sing  precisely  the 
same  song. 

A  bird  shows  his  intelligence  in  many  ways. 
Jne  is  by  the  way  he  acts  when  he  cannot  do  as 
he  is  used  to  doing.  A  robin  I  know  of  wished 
to  build  a  nest,  but  could  not  find  mud  to  put 
into  it,  for  it  was  a  very  dry  time,  and  there 
were  no  streams  near.  Now  a  robin's  nest  must 
have  mud,  and  the  bird  seemed  puzzled  for 
a  while.  But  at  last  she  thought  of  a  way  to 
get  it. 

She  went  to  a  bathing-dish  that  the  people  of 
the  house  kept  filled  with  water  for  the  birds, 
jumped  into  it,  and  got  her  legs  very  wet. 
Then  she  flew  to  the  road,  and  tramped  around 
in  the  dust  and  dirt. 

In  a  short  time  her  legs  had  a  good  coating 
of  mud,  which  she  carefully  picked  off  with  her 
bill,  and  took  to  the  nest  she  was  building. 

This  she  did  a  great  many  times,  and  the 
lady  who  told  me  of  it  watched  her  till  she  had 
as  much  mud  as  she  needed. 

A  bird  often  shows  sense  by  the  way  she 
repairs  a  nest  that  has  been  thrown  out  of  place. 
Sometimes  she  will  add  a  new  stay,  tying  the 
nest  to  a  stronger  limb.  One  sparrow,  whose 
nest  broke  loose,  put  so  many  stays  to  the 


HIS  INTELLIGENCE  85 

branch  above  that  they  made  a  little  roof  like  a 
tent  over  it. 

Another  way  a  bird  shows  reason  is  in  seeing 
the  advantage  of  a  new  place.  A  pair  of  swal- 
lows lived  far  out  in  the  West,  hundreds  of 
miles  from  any  house.  They  had  no  doubt 
always  nested  in  a  cave,  or  a  hole  in  a  tree.  But 
one  day  they  found  a  house  put  up.  It  was  a 
mere  shed,  to  be  used  as  a  blacksmith  shop,  by  a 
party  of  men  who  were  looking  over  the  country. 

At  once  the  birds  saw  how  nice  it  would  be 
to  have  a  roof  over  their  heads.  And  although 
there  was  a  big  fire,  and  the  noise  of  men  at 
work,  they  built  the  nest  over  the  anvil,  and 
reared  the  family  in  safety. 

Woodpeckers  have  shown  that  they  can  learn. 
Some  of  them  have  found  an  easier  way  to  get 
food  than  to  dig  through  the  bark  of  trees 
for  it. 

The  flicker,  or  golden-winged  woodpecker, 
has  learned  that  ants  and  other  insects  are  good 
to  eat,  and  now  he  does  not  think  of  digging 
into  bark  any  more. 

The  red-headed  woodpecker  has  learned  to 
catch  flies  like  a  common  flycatcher.  The  yellow* 
bellied,  or  sapsucker,  cuts  holes  in  the  trees,  and 
eats  the  insects  that  come  to  feed  on  the  sweet 
sap  that  drips  from  them. 


86  THE  BIRD  GROWN  UP 

Woodpeckers  have  also  learned  to  cut  a  hole 
through  a  board  and  nest  inside  a  building,  in- 
stead of  drilling  a  deep  hole  in  the  trunk  of  a 
tree  for  a  nest. 

Birds  show  intelligence  when  they  draw  us 
away  from  their  young  ones,  by  acting  as  if 
they  were  hurt  and  not  able  to  fly.  I  have  al- 
ready spoken  about  that. 

Sometimes  when  a  bird  is  caught  he  will  lie 
quiet  and  pretend  to  be  dead.  But  all  the  time 
he  is  looking  out  for  a  chance  to  fly  away. 

A  man  who  watched  birds  very  closely  once 
saw  an  interesting  instance  of  their  intelligence. 
They  were  two  of  the  birds  who  get  their  food 
on  the  seashore  by  turning  over  stones  and  eat- 
ing the  creatures  hidden  under  them.  They 
had  found  a  big  dead  fish  thrown  up  on  the 
beach  and  half  buried  in  sand.  Under  such  a 
fish  they  were  sure  they  should  find  food,  so 
they  went  to  work  to  turn  it  over.  The  fish 
was  three  and  a  half  feet  long,  and  the  birds 
were  about  as  big  as  our  sandpipers.  So  it  was 
a  hard  thing  to  do. 

First  they  pushed  against  it  with  their  beaks 
and  breast,  but  it  did  not  move.  Then  they 
went  around  the  other  side  and  scratched  away 
A  good  deal  of  sand  from  under  the  fish,  and 
went  back  and  tried  again  to  turn  it  over.  Still 
it  was  too  heavy  to  stir. 


FLICKER 


HIS  INTELLIGENCE  87 

Again  they  ran  around  the  other  side,  scraped 
more  sand,  and  tried  it  once  more.  They 
kept  up  this  work  for  half  an  hour,  but  did  not 
succeed  in  stirring  the  great  fish. 

At  this  time  the  man,  who  had  hidden  himself 
to  watch  them,  saw  another  bird  coming.  The 
two  little  workers  greeted  him  with  joyful  cries, 
to  which  he  replied  in  the  same  tones.  Then 
all  three  set  to  work  on  the  heavy  fish.  They 
dug  more  sand  out  from  the  lower  side,  and 
then  pushed  against  the  upper  side  with  all  their 
strength.  They  lifted  it  a  few  inches,  but  it 
fell  back. 

At  last,  after  resting  a  few  minutes,  without 
moving  from  their  places,  they  worked  it  in  this 
way.  They  rested  their  breasts  on  the  sand, 
put  their  beaks  under,  and  lifted.  When  the 
fish  was  raised  several  inches,  they  held  it  with 
their  beaks  and  pushed  their  breasts  against  it, 
when  over  it  went,  down  the  little  pitch  they 
had  made. 

They  could  not  stop,  and  they  went  with  it, 
but  at  once  came  back  and  found  enough  to  pay 
them  for  their  hard  work. 

One  who  really  watches  birds  to  see  what 
they  are  doing  will  see  many  actions  that  show 
intelligence  and  reason. 


HOW  HE  IS  MADE 


XXI 

HIS   BODY 

DID  you  ever  think  how  well  the  bird  is  made 
to  suit  his  life  ?  Look  at  him. 

To  fit  him  to  move  through  the  air  in  flying, 
his  shape  is  the  same  that  men  make  their  boats 
to  move  through  water.  It  is  sharp  in  front  to 
cut  his  way  as  he  goes  through,  for  even  the  air 
needs  to  be  cut. 

It  is  narrower  toward  the  back,  and  as  he 
flies,  the  feet  are  drawn  up  or  trail  behind,  and 
even  the  feathers  lie  backward.  All  this  is  so  he 
can  go  swiftly  through  the  air,  and  nothing,  not 
even  a  feather,  will  hold  him  back. 

To  keep  his  body  upright,  so  that  he  will  not 
be  top-heavy  and  tip  over  as  he  flies,  his  weight 
is  mostly  below  the  wings. 

If  we  should  try  to  go  through  the  air  as  fast 
as  a  bird  goes,  we  should  find  it  very  hard  to 
breathe.  But  the  bird  is  made  for  it.  When 
you  come  to  study  his  anatomy,  you  will  see 
what  a  wonderful  little  creature  he  is. 


92  HOW  HE  IS  MADE 

He  can  sing  while  he  is  working  very  hard  to 
fly  upward.  If  you  will  try  to  sing  while  run- 
ning up  a  hill,  you  will  see  how  hard  it  is  to  do 
that. 

A  bird's  head  is  joined  to  his  neck  at  one  place, 
something  like  a  hinge.  Other  animals,  like  dogs 
and  cats,  have  two  hinges,  or  places  of  joining. 
That  is  why  a  bird  is  able  to  turn  his  head 
around  so  far  that  he  can  look  down  his  own 
back.  No  other  creature  can  do  so. 

Because  of  this,  he  is  able  to  dress  every 
feather  on  his  body,  and  to  sleep  with  his  head 
laid  back  on  his  shoulder. 

Nearly  all  birds  have  some  of  their  bones  hol- 
low, and  air -sacs,  or  pockets,  under  the  skin. 
These  sacs  they  can  fill  with  air  and  make  them- 
selves light,  so  that  those  who  live  in  the  water 
cannot  sink,  but  float  like  a  cork. 

Men  who  study  the  way  birds  are  made  do 
not  yet  know  all  the  uses  of  the  hollow  bones 
and  air-sacs.  That  is  one  of  the  things  left  for 
you  young  folk  to  find  out. 

Birds  who  get  their  food  in  marshes,  or  the 
edge  of  the  water,  have  long  legs  for  wading. 
They  have  also  long  necks,  so  they  can  pick  up 
food  from  the  ground. 

Birds  who  swim  have  webs  between  the  toes, 
that  turn  their  feet  into  paddles. 


HIS  BODY  93 

Birds  have  very  large  gullets.  In  many  cases 
the  gullet  leads  into  a  place  called  the  crop,  where 
food  is  kept  before  it  goes  into  the  stomach. 
Sometimes  the  food  is  made  soft  in  the  crop,  and 
then  fed  to  the  young  ones,  as  I  told  you. 

Birds  have  no  teeth,  yet  they  eat  hard  seeds, 
like  acorns  and  grains  of  corn.  To  break  these 
up,  and  get  them  ready  for  the  stomach,  they 
have  a  gizzard,  which  is  a  sort  of  grinding-mill. 
And  to  help  in  the  work  of  grinding  they  swal- 
low small  stones. 

One  of  the  wonderful  things  about  birds  is  the 
height  at  which  they  can  live,  and  not  only  live, 
but  fly.  A  man  cannot  go  higher  than  twenty- 
two  or  twenty-three  thousand  feet,  while  moving 
about  or  exercising,  because  the  air  is  so  rare  he 
cannot  breathe.  The  highest  a  man  was  ever 
known  to  go  and  live,  it  is  said,  was  less  than 
thirty  thousand  feet,  and  that  was  in  a  balloon, 
where  he  did  not  move. 

But  birds  go  a  good  deal  higher  than  this, 
and  can  fly  —  which  is  violent  exercise  —  at 
that  height.  It  is  thought  by  some  that  the 
thinness  of  the  air  may  be  the  cause  of  the  great 
speed  with  which  birds  fly  in  that  region.  But 
there  is  still  much  to  be  found  out  about  this. 

Besides  the  marvels  of  flight,  birds  have  other 
powers  almost  as  strange.  Many  of  them  can  fly 


94  HOW  HE  IS  MADE 

under  water  with  perfect  ease,  and,  more  than 
that,  they  can,  when  they  wish,  sink  slowly  till 
nothing  is  left  above  water  but  their  beaks,  to 
breathe.  And  they  can  stay  so  as  long  as  they 
choose,  keeping  still  in  one  spot,  without  moving. 

A  cormorant  in  a  zoological  garden,  who 
wanted  to  catch  some  of  the  swallows  skim- 
ming over  the  pond,  sank  his  body  till  only  his 
head  was  out,  and  held  himself  there  perfectly 
still. 

Birds  who  are  hunted,  as  geese,  have  been 
known  to  save  their  lives  in  that  way,  by  sink- 
ing their  body  under  water,  leaving  in  sight  only 
the  tip  of  the  bill,  which  is  so  small  it  is  not 
readily  seen. 

To  do  such  things,  birds  must  be  able  to  make 
their  bodies  heavy  when  they  choose,  as  well  as 
light,  which  we  know  they  are  able  to  do  by  fill- 
ing their  air-sacs  with  air. 

There  are  many  things  still  to  be  found  out 
about  the  powers  of  birds. 


xxn 


FIG.  1. 
Bill  of  Oriole. 


HIS   BEAK   AND    TONGUE 

How  does  a  bird  get  along  without  a  hand? 
He  has  to  prepare  food ;  to  keep  his  feathers  in 
order ;  to  build  the  nest ;  to 
feed  and  take  care  of  the  young; 
and  sometimes  to  fight  other 
birds.  How  can  all  this  be 
done  without  a  hand  ? 

The  beak  is  the  only  thing 
most  birds  have  in  place  of  a  hand,  and  it  is 
wonderful  to  see  how  many  things  they  can  do 
with  it. 

Orioles  use  it  as  a  needle,  in  making  the  nest. 
With  it  they  weave  strips  of  soft  bark  or  strings, 
back  and  forth,  in  and  out,  to  make  the  firm 
pocket  they  hang  on  the 
elm-tree  (see  Fig.  1). 

A  woodpecker's  beak  is 
a  chisel  or  pick,  to  cut  a 
deep  hole  in  a  tree  trunk 
Bill  of  Woodpecker.         for  a  nest  (Fig.  2).    With 


96 


HOW  HE  IS  MADE 


FIG.  3. 

Bill  of  Swal- 
low. 


a  nuthatch  it  is  a  hammer,  to  crack  the  nut  he 

has  wedged  into  a  crevice  in  the  bark  so  tightly 

it  cannot  slip. 

Some  birds  use  the  beak  to  dig  in  the  ground, 
as  the  bank  swallows,  while  the  barn 
swallows  make  it  a  trowel,  to  carry 
and  plaster  mud  (Fig.  3).  All  of 
them  use  it  as  a  hand  to  feed  them- 
selves, and  a  brush  and  comb  to  dress 
their  feathers. 

Birds  need  to  use  the  beak  a  good 

deal,  because  in  most  cases  it  grows  like  our 

finger-nails.     If  they  did  not  keep  it  worn  off, 

it   would    grow   so   long   as   to   trouble  them. 

Sometimes  when  a  bird  lives  in  a  cage  and  does 

not  use  his  bill,  it  grows  so  long  that  he  can 

hardly    pick    up    his 

food. 

The        woodcock's 

long  beak  is  sensitive, 

so  that  he  can  feel  the 

worms,  deep    in    the 

mud  where  they  live. 

Many     waders      and 

swimmers  have  beaks 

soft  like  leather. 

You  can  tell  by  the  shape  of  the  beak  how  a 

bird  lives,  and  what  he  eats.   The  strong,  hooked 


FIG.  4. 
Bill  of  Hawk. 


WHITE-BREASTED  NUTHATCH 


HIS  BEAK  AND  TONGUE  97 

beak  of  a  hawk  shows  that  he  catches  live  ani- 
mals to  eat  (Fig.  4).  The  long,  narrow,  sharp 
bill  of  a  heron  shows  that  he  spears  his  prey, 
often  under  water. 

The  sharp-pointed  bill  of  a  warbler  is  to  pick 
tiny  insects  and  eggs  out  of  blos- 
soms, and  from  under  leaves.     The 
sharp-edged  bill  of  a  sparrow  (Fig. 
5)  is  to  break  open  the  hard  shells          F 

°f  Seeds.  Bill  of  Sparrow. 

The  curious  beak  of  a  crossbill 
(Fig.  6)  is  to  pick  seeds  out  of  pine 
cones. 

A  duck's  wide  beak,  with  a 
strainer  at  the  edge,  is  to  let  water  FlG' 6* 

...        .          •  «       ,     .  BUI  of  Crossbill. 

out   while    keeping   tood   in.      A 
spoon-shaped  bill  is  to  scoop  up  food,  and  a  thin, 
flat  one  is  to  poke  into  narrow  cracks. 

Both  parts  of  the  beak,  which  take  the  place 
of  our  jaws,  are  called  mandibles,  upper  and 
lower.  Both  of  them  can  be  moved,  while  we 
can  move  only  our  lower  jaw. 

Birds'  tongues  are  as  curious  as  their  beaks. 
To  all  birds  they  take  the  place  of  a  finger,  as 
the  beak  takes  the  place  of  a  hand,  and  they 
differ  as  much  as  the  beaks  from  each  other. 

Insect  eggs  are  very  small,  and  often  packed 
•nugly  into  cracks  and  corners,  and  the  birds 


98  HOW  HE  IS  MADE 

who  eat  them  have  a  brush  on  the  tip  of  the 
tongue,  which  brushes  an  egg  out  of  its  hiding- 
place  very  easily. 

The  nuthatch  picks  his  small  grubs  out  of 
crevices  in  bark  with  the  four-tined  fork  at  the 
end  of  his  tongue. 

A  hummingbird's  tongue  can  be  used  as  a 
tube,  to  draw  up  the  honey  of  flowers, 
or  perhaps  as  a  pair  of  tweezers,  to  pick 
out  the  tiny  spiders  that  live  there. 

A  woodpecker  has  barbs  on  his 
tongue,  to  spear  insects  hidden  under 
the  bark,  as  shown  by  Mr.  Lucas  (Fig. 
7).  It  is  said  to  be  sticky  also,  to  hold 
small  ones,  like  ants. 

The  tongues   of  birds  are  of  many 
shapes,   but   each  one  is   fitted   to   its 
owner's  way  of  getting  a  living. 
FIG.  7.          Because  the  tongue  is  often  horny, 
Jip  of      and  they  eat  strange  things,  it  is  some- 

iongue  J  i«ii  vi 

of  Downy    times  thought  that  birds  have  little  sense 
TckLt      °^  taste-    But  we  cannot  be  sure  of  this, 
and   we    know   they  all   have   notions 
about  their  food. 

Dr.  Ward  tells  a  story  of  some  geese,  which 
shows  that  they  do  not  lack  that  sense.  While 
sailing  upon  a  river  he  noticed  on  the  bank 
some  geese,  feeding  on  the  rinds  of  watermelon, 


HIS  BEAK  AND  TONGUE  99 

which  they  picked  out  of  the  garbage  dumped 
there. 

The  rind,  when  taken  out  of  the  mass,  was 
none  too  clean,  being  covered  with  mud  and 
other  dirt.  When  a  goose  found  a  piece  to  suit 
Him,  he  took  it  up,  carried  it  to  the  edge,  and 
dropped  it  into  the  shallow  water.  Then  he 
stood  and  watched  it  till  the  running  stream 
washed  it  clean,  when  he  stepped  into  the  water 
and  quickly  ate  off  the  part  he  wanted. 


XXIII 

HIS   EYES   AND    EARS 

BIRDS'  eyes  are  very  different  from  ours.  To 
begin  with,  they  are  round.  Then  they  are 
placed  one  on  each  side  of  the  head,  so  that 
they  can  look  two  ways  at  once.  Owls  are  the 
only  birds  who  have  eyes  turned  forward  like 
ours. 

Birds'  eyes  also  are  of  many  colors.  Besides 
our  common  black,  brown,  blue,  and  gray,  birds 
have  light  and  dark  green,  bright  red,  pale  and 
deep  yellow  and  orange,  even  white. 

They  have,  like  us,  two  eyelids.  But  while 
we  use  the  upper  one  to  close  our  eyes,  most 
birds  use  the  lower  one.  They  have  also  a  third 
eyelid,  inside  the  others,  a  thin,  white  sort  of 
skin,  that  moves  across  the  eye  from  side  to  side, 
and  is  called  the  "  nictitating  membrane." 

There  are  other  ways  in  which  birds'  eyes 
differ  from  ours.  The  men  who  try  to  know 
exactly  how  birds  are  made  have  found  out  that 
birds'  eyes  make  everything  look  much  larger 


HIS  EYES  AND  EARS  101 

than  it  is,  in  other  words,  they  are  like  magni- 
fying glasses,  or  microscopes,  so  that  a  tiny  in- 
sect egg,  that  we  can  hardly  see,  looks  very  big 
to  a  warbler. 

Stranger  still,  when  a  bird  is  far  off,  his  eyes 
are  like  telescopes.  That  is,  when  a  hawk  is 
soaring  about  far  above  the  earth,  he  can  see  a 
mouse  on  the  ground  as  well  as  if  he  had  a  tele- 
scope to  look  through.  And  the  gulls  who  sail 
about  over  the  shore,  and  follow  steamers  on  sea 
voyages,  can  see  small  fish  and  tiny  bits  of 
bread  thrown  out  by  the  passengers,  even  when 
they  are  lost  to  us  in  the  foam  made  by  the 
vessel. 

Mr.  Frank  Bolles  had  a  pet  barred  owl,  and 
used  to  take  him  out  with  him.  He  says  that 
the  bird's  sight  was  wonderful,  better  than  bis 
own  aided  by  a  strong  glass.  Many  times  the 
bird  would  see  and  watch  a  hawk  so  far  off  that 
Mr.  Bolles  with  his  glass  could  not  see  him  until 
he  came  nearer,  and  then  he  looked  no  bigger 
than  a  dot  against  the  sky. 

There  is  a  story  told  of  some  small  birds  mi- 
grating over  the  island  of  Heligoland,  suddenly 
coming  down  in  a  flock  on  to  a  man's  garden,, 
and  beginning  at  once  to  work  among  the 
leaves  as  if  they  were  feeding. 

The  owner  of  the  garden  knew  they  did  not 


102 


HOW  HE  IS  MADE 


eat  leaves,  so  he  shot  a  few  and  found  them 
stuffed  with  small  caterpillars.  Then  he  looked 
at  the  plants  and  found  many  more  caterpillars, 
each  in  the  curled-up  end  of  a  leaf.  The  in- 
sects could  not  be  seen,  yet  the  birds,  while  fly- 
ing over,  no  doubt  saw  the  curled  leaves  and 

O  ' 

knew  they  were  there. 

Such  eyes  must  be  of  great  use  in  helping 
birds  to  find  their  food,  and  to  avoid  their  ene- 
mies. But  think  what  giants  we  must  look  to 
them  !  It  is  no  wonder  they  are  afraid  of  us. 

Perhaps  even  more  useful  to  a  bird  than  his 
eyes  are  his  ears,  though  they  are  so  nicely  cov- 
ered up  by  the  feathers  that  we  cannot  see 
them.  The  tufts  of  feathers  that  stand  up  on 
some  owls'  heads,  and  are  called  ears,  are  not 
ears  at  all,  but  merely  decorations,  like  the 
crests  of  some  birds  and  the  long  tail  feathers  of 
others. 

But  because  they  cannot  be  seen,  we  must  not 
think  birds  have  no  ears ;  they  have  very  good 
ones  indeed.  They  can  hear  much  better  than 
we  can. 

Every  one  has  seen  a  robin  run  over  the  grass 
and  turn  his  head  one  side  to  listen.  It  is  sup- 
posed that  he  hears  the  earthworm  move  under 
the  sod,  and  if  he  is  watched,  he  will  often  b<« 
seen  to  pull  the  worm  from  that  very  spot. 


HIS  EYES  AND   EARS  103 

When  a  woodpecker  taps  on  a  tree  trunk  and 
turns  his  head  to  listen,  it  is  thought  that  he 
hears  the  grub  stir  under  the  bark,  for  when  he 
begins  to  cut  the  bark  away,  he  is  pretty  sure  to 
find  and  draw  it  out. 

Birds  that  are  much  hunted  by  men,  like 
ducks  and  geese,  get  to  be  very  knowing,  and 
show  how  wonderful  is  their  hearing.  They 
can  tell  the  difference  between  a  noise  made  by 
an  animal  and  that  made  by  a  man.  A  deer  or 
any  animal  may  crash  through  the  bushes,  and 
they  pay  no  attention  to  it,  but  if  a  man  makes 
the  least  sound  they  are  off  in  an  instant. 

A  bird's  ears  are  behind  the  eyes,  and  a  little 
below  them.  They  are  covered  by  delicate  fea- 
thers that  hide  them  from  sight.  When  the 
bird  raises  these  feathers  —  perhaps  to  hear  bet- 
ter —  they  look  like  tiny  ear  muffs. 

Owls  have  little  flaps  of  skin  with  which  they 
can  shut  up  their  ears  when  they  wish  to  be 
quiet.  This  must  be  very  useful  to  birds  who 
prefer  to  sleep  during  the  day,  when  nearly 
everybody  else  is  awake  and  making  a  noise. 
Many  of  us  who  live  in  cities  would  like  to  be 
able  to  close  our  ears  sometimes. 

Mr.  Bolles  tells  a  story  about  the  sharp  hear- 
ing of  a  heron.  The  bird  was  on  a  tree  dress- 
ing his  plumage,  and  he  was  hidden  in  some 
bushes  and  could  not  be  seen. 


104  HOW  HE  IS  MADE 

Mr.  Bolles  made  all  sorts  of  noises  to  start  up 
the  heron  and  make  him  fly.  First  he  imitated 
animal  sounds.  He  quacked,  and  barked,  and 
mewed,  and  brayed,  and  the  bird  looked  inter- 
ested, but  not  at  all  alarmed.  Then  he  whistled 
and  sang,  and  at  last  talked  plainly,  but  the 
bird  only  looked  over  his  way,  as  if  to  see  what 
new  sort  of  beast  was  hidden  there. 

No  noise  that  he  could  make  startled  the 
heron  in  the  least,  until  a  twig  snapped  under 
his  foot,  when  the  bird  was  off  like  a  shot. 
That  sound  he  well  knew  was  made  by  hi*  most 
feared  enemy,  man. 


XXIV 


HIS   FEET   AND   LEGS 

A  BIRD  always  stands  on  his  toes,  not  on  hki 
whole  foot,  as  we  do.  The  long  slim  part  that 
we  call  the  leg  is  really  the  foot,  and  the  joint 
we  see  nearly  up  to  the  bird's  body  is  the  bird's 
heel.  But  in  this  book  we  will 
speak  of  it  in  the  common  way,x 
calling  the  toes  the  foot,  and  the 
part  up  to  the  joint  the  leg. 

People  all  over  the  world  have 
the  same  kind  of  feet 
and  the  same  number 
of  toes ;  but  with  birds 
it  is  not  so.     Most  of 
them   have   four   toes 
(Fig.    8),    but     some 
have  only  three,  and  a  few  have  no  more  than 
two. 

In  the  use  of  the  feet  there  is  still  more 
variety.  There  are,  as  Dr.  Coues  divides  them, 
three  kinds  of  feet  among  birds :  — 


FIG.  8. 
Foot  of  Blackbird. 


106 


HOW  HE  IS  MADE 


First,  a  foot  that  can  be  used  like  a  hand  to 
clasp  a  perch,  a  "  perching  foot." 

Second,  one  that  is  good  to  use  as  a  foot,  but 
not  at  all  like  a  hand,  called  a  "scratching 
foot." 

Third,  one  that  is  like  neither  hand  nor  foot, 
but  a  paddle,  called  a  "  swimming  foot." 

The  birds  who  have  the  first  kind,  the  "perch- 
ing foot,"  have  usually  three  toes 
turned  forward  and  one  turned 
back.  They  can  grasp  a  branch 
or  a  twig  as  tightly  as  if  with  a 
hand,  as  all  our  common  little 
birds  do.  And  the  large  birds 

of  prey,  such  as  hawks  and  owls 
^  hold  in  tnem  live 

squirrels  an(J   the  other 

animals  they  eat. 

Some  birds  with  perching  feet  have  the  toes 
placed     another    way.      Woodpeckers 
have    two    turned    forward    and    two 
turned  back,  so  that  they  can  hold  bet- 
ter to  a  tree  trunk  (Fig.  10). 

A  strange  thing  about  the  perching 
toes  is  the  way  they  are  made  to  hold 
on,  so  that  the   birds  can  sleep  on  a 
perch,  and  not  fall.    Inside  the  toes  are  tendons, 
something  like  cords,  which  act  like  elastic  rub* 


FIG.  9. 

Foot  of  Hawk. 


; 


LESSER  YELLOWLEGS 


HIS  FEET  AND   LEGS  107 

ber.  When  a  bird  bends  his  leg,  the  toes  are 
drawn  up  and  held  so.  When  he  is  sitting  on  a 
perch,  he  could  not  fall  off  if  he  wanted  to. 

Birds  who  have  the  "  scratching  foot,"  the 
second  kind,  mostly  go  about  on  the  ground,  or 
wade  in  the  water.  They  do  not  usually  sleep 
on  perches,  but  sleep  standing,  or  crouch  on  the 
ground.  In  the  arctic  regions,  where  there  is  a 
great  deal  of  snow,  some  birds  with  scratching 
feet,  who  have  to  go  about  in  it,  have  in  winter 
what  has  been  called  "  snowshoes,"  because  it 
enables  them  to  walk  on  the  snow  with  ease. 
It  is  a  web-like  growth  on  the  side  of  each  toe, 
which  serves  the  same  purpose  with  birds  that 
snowshoes  do  with  men,  keeps  them  from  sink* 
ing  into  the  snow. 

Birds  who   have  the  "  swimming  foot,"  the 

O  ' 

third  kind,  have  the  toes  made  into  a  paddle 
by  webs  stretched  between  them.  They  are  the 
water  birds,  —  ducks,  geese,  gulls,  and  others. 

The  toes  of  all  birds  have  long,  sharp  claws, 
not  at  all  like  our  toe-nails.  In  the  whip-poor- 
will  and  the  nighthawk,  one  edge  of  the  middle 
claw  has  teeth  like  a  comb. 

The  long  slim  part  above  the  toes,  what  we 
call  the  leg,  is  named  in  the  books  the  "  tarsus." 
The  tarsus  is  generally  bare,  with  a  leathery 
skin ;  but  in  some  hawks  and  owls  it  is  covered 


108  HOW  HE  IS  MADE 

with  feathers.  Birds  who  live  away  up  in  the 
cold  have  feathers  down  on  to  the  toes. 

On  looking  carefully  at  one  of  these  bare 
legs,  it  will  be  seen  that  it  is  not  smooth  like  a 
lead  pencil.  It  is  marked  in  a  sort  of  pattern. 
Different  species  of  birds  show  different  patterns. 
Some  look  like  the  shingles  on  a  roof ;  others 
like  little  squares  or  plates  ;  and  some  are  finer, 
like  scales  on  a  tiny  fish. 

These  marks  help  in  arranging  birds  in  the 
books.  That  is,  all  who  have  the  same  pattern 
are  said  to  be  related. 

The  legs  of  birds  are  not  all  of  the  same 
length  for  their  size.  Some  who  never  go  about 
on  the  ground,  like  hummingbirds,  swallows, 
and  swifts,  have  very  short  legs.  Birds  who 
walk  and  hop  on  the  ground  have  them  longer, 
and  birds  who  wade  in  the  water  have  the  long- 
est of  all. 


XXV 

HIS   WINGS   AND   TAIL 

A  BIRD'S  wing  does  not  look  much  like  our 
arm  and  hand,  yet  the  bones  show  that  they  are 
the  same.  The  bird  has  a  shoulder,  elbow,  and 
wrist,  as  we  have.  He  even  has  fingers,  though 
they  are  so  covered  up  by  feathers  that  one  would 
never  know  it.  He  has  not  so  many  fingers  as 
we  have,  and  they  are  not  movable  like  ours. 

A  bird's  wing  is  a  wonderful  flying-machine, 
which  men  have  been  trying  to  imitate  these 
many  years.  It  is  made  of  long  stiff  feathers, 
which  fold  down  smoothly  over  one  another  at 
his  side  when  he  is  resting,  but  can  spread  in  an 
instant  into  a  broad  fan,  to  beat  the  air  and 
carry  him  away. 

One  would  not  think  that  feathers  could  have 
so  much  power ;  but  when  the  wing  is  spread,  the 
barbs  of  the  feathers  hook  together  with  tiny 
hooks,  so  small  a  microscope  is  needed  to  see 
them  ;  and  that,  together  with  the  edges  lapping 
over  each  other,  makes  them  almost  like  one 
solid  surface. 


110 


HOW  HE  IS  MADE 


Wings  are  not  alike  in  shape.  The  wing  cf 
a  swallow  is  long  and  narrow,  while  that  of  a 
hen  or  grouse  is  short  and  round.  We  can  tell 
by  the  shape  of  a  wing  how  a  bird  flies. 

A  long,  narrow,  pointed  wing  shows  that  the 


FIG.  11. 
Wing  of  Swift. 

bird  has  an  easy,  skimming  flight,  —  either  he 

flies  great  distances,  or  spends  hours  at  a  time 

on  wing  (Fig.  11). 

The  short  round  wing  (Fig.  12)  shows  that 

a  bird  has  a  strong  flight  for  short  distances. 

These  wings  are 
found  mostly  on 
rather  heavy  birds, 
like  grouse. 

The  longest  wings 
are  seen  on  water 
birds,  such  as  the 

petrel  and  the  frigate-bird.     The  shortest,  also. 

are  found  among  water  birds,  those  who  swim 

more  than  they  fly,  as  the  auks. 

All  the  feathers  of  the  wing  are  named,  and 


FIG.  12. 
Wing  of  Sparrow. 


HIS  WINGS  AND  TAIL 


111 


it  will  be  well  to  remember  that  the  long  stiff 
quills  are  called  remiges  or  "rowers."  These  are 
firmly  rooted  in  the  flesh,  and  are  the  hardest 
to  pull  out.  They  are  the  most  important  to 
the  safety  of  the  bird. 

Birds  have  also  another  use  for  their  wings. 
They  are  a  strong  weapon  to  defend  themselves, 
or  to  fight  others.  A 
large  bird  can  give  a 
severe  blow  with  his 
wing,  and  when  pi- 
geons fight,  it  is  said 
they  hold  up  one  wing 
to  protect  themselves 
while  they  strike  at  the 
enemy  with  the  other. 

Sometimes  wings 
serve  as  musical  instru- 
ments. Woodcocks 
make  whistling  sounds 
with  their  wings  as  they 
fly,  and  mourning  doves 
softly  murmuring  ones.  Ruffed  grouse  produce 
with  theirs  a  rolling  drum-like  effect,  and  otherr 
rattle  theirs  like  castanets. 

If  wings  are  not  used,  they  slowly  get  to  be 
smaller  and  weaker,  each  generation  having  them 
tnore  and  more  useless,  till  after  a  while  they  are 


FIG.  13. 
Tail  of  Ruffed  Grouse. 


112 


HOW  HE  IS  MADE 


of  no  use  whatever,  and  the  birds  cannot  fly 
at  all.  This  has  happened,  it  is  supposed,  to 
the  ostrich  family  and  to  some 
birds  living  in  the  sea. 

The  tail  of  a  bird  is  formed  of 
an  equal  number  of  feathers  in 
pairs,  most  often  twelve.  When 
spread  they  are  the  shape  of  a 
fan  (Fig.  13),  and  when  closed  they  lie  over 
each  other  with  the  middle  pair  on  top. 

The  tail  feathers  are  not  always  of  the  same 
length,  and  that  makes  a  difference  in  the  shape 
of  the  end.  Sometimes  they  are  even  (like  Fig. 


FIG.  14. 
Tail  of  Vireo. 


FIG.  15. 
Tail  of  Swallow-tailed  Kite. 


14),  when  the  tail  is  said  to  be  "  square." 
Sometimes  the  middle  feathers  are  a  little  longer 
than  the  outside  ones,  and  then  it  is  "  rounded  " 


BROWN  THRASHER 


HIS  WINGS  AND  TAIL  113 

or  "  pointed."     If  the  outside  feathers  are  long- 
est, the  tail  is  "  forked  "  (Fig.  15). 

The  feathers  of  the  tail  are  called  rectrices, 
or  "  rudders/'  because  they  are  supposed  to  be 
used  to  steer,  or  direct  the  bird's  course  in  fly- 
ing. But  the  tail  is  used  also  as  a  brake  to 
check  the  speed  in  alighting. 

The  tail  is  used  more  than  any  other  organ 
to    express    the    emotions. 
Some   birds,   like   the   cat- 
bird and  thrasher,  keep  it 

moving  nearly  all  the  time, 

•    i  •      •*.  ,1  •  i  XT.  Fro- 16- 

•jerking  it  this  way  and  that,          _  M  .  0 

J  o   .         .  J  Tail  of  Sapsucker. 

and  tossing  it  upward. 

In  woodpeckers  and  swifts  the  tail  feathers 
are  not  soft  at  the  end  like  others,  but  the  stems 
or  shafts  project  beyond  the  feathery  part,  and 
are  stiff  like  the  tail  of  a  sapsucker  (Fig.  16) 
or  sharp  like  this  of  the  chimney  swift  (Fig. 
17).  These  birds  use  the  tail  as 
a  prop  to  hold  them  against  the 
tree  trunk  or  chimney  wall,  and 
FIQ  17  to  help  them  in  climbing. 

Swift  Tail.  Tail     feathers    are     not     so 

strongly  rooted  as  wing  feathers, 
and  are  easily  pulled  out.  Sometimes,  when  a 
man  or  boy  tries  to  catch  a  bird  by  the  tail,  the 
bird  will  escape,  leaving  the  tail  in  his  hand. 


XXVI 

HIS   DRESS 

A  BIRD'S  whole  dress  is  made  of  feathers,  but 
the  feathers  are  not  all  alike.  There  are,  indeed, 
several  kinds  of  feathers,  and  four  of  them  are 
found  on  every  bird.  There  are  flight  feathers, 
clothing  feathers,  downy  feathers,  thread  feathers, 
and  powder-down  feathers. 

Feathers  of  all  kinds  are  made  in  the  same 
way.  All  have,  first,  a  quill,  the  horny  part  next 
to  the  body ;  second,  a  shaft,  the  white  part  on 
which  the  barbs  grow ;  third,  the  barbs,  which 
grow  out  on  each  side  of  the  shaft,  and  together 
are  called  the  vane  ;  fourth,  the  barbules,  or  little 
barbs,  growing  out  of  the  barbs ;  and  last,  the 
barbicels,  which  grow  on  the  barbules,  and  on 
the  wings  have  the  tiny  hooks  which  hold  them 
together. 

But  though  feathers  are  made  on  the  same 
pattern,  they  look  very  different.  The  wing  and 
tail  feathers  are  stiff  and  strong,  and  are  called 
flight  fe  hers,  but  those  on  the  breast  and  body 


HIS  DRESS  115 

are  called  soft,  and  cling  closely  to  keep  the  bird 
warm  and  dry.  These  are  called  the  clothing 
feathers,  because  they  clothe  the  bird. 

Down  feathers,  which  are  almost  always  hid- 
den under  the  clothing  feathers,  are,  like  their 
name,  downy,  and  answer  to  our  under-clothes. 

Thread  feathers  grow  among  the  clothing 
feathers,  and  are  almost  like  hairs.  It  is  these 
that  the  cook  singes  off  the  fowls. 

Kingfishers  who  dive,  and  ducks  who  spend 
much  time  on  the  water,  have  very  thick  down 
under  the  feathers  —  like  suits  of  very  warm 
under-clothes  —  which  keeps  the  water  away 
from  their  bodies.  Thus  they  can  dive,  or  sit  on 
the  water  hours  at  a  time,  and  not  feel  wet  at  all. 

Powder-down  feathers  grow  on  some  herons 
and  cockatoos.  They  are  called  by  that  name 
because  the  tip  ends  are  continually  breaking  off 
like  white  dust.  Nobody  knows  their  use. 

Different  from  all  these  are  the  feathers  called 
plumes,  like  the  long,  soft  ostrich  plumes  we  all 
know ;  the  dainty  little  ones  that  stand  straight 
up,  and  look  as  if  the  wind  would  blow  them 
away ;  the  long,  showy  feathers  that  the  peacock 
spreads  with  so  much  pride,  or  even  the  pretty, 
drooping  ones  in  the  cock's  tail. 

These  feathers  are  of  no  use  for  flight  or  for 
Warmth,  they  rather  hinder  than  help.  They  are 


116  HOW  HE  IS  MADE 

for  ornament,  and  there  are  many  kinds  among 
birds,  all  exquisitely  beautiful.  Nature  has  given 
to  birds  a  more  wonderful  dress  than  to  any 
other  living  creature. 

It  is  with  his  feathers  that  a  bird  expresses  his 
feelings.  In  anger  he  fluffs  them  out  till  he 
looks  twice  as  big  as  usual ;  we  have  all  seen  a 
hen  bristle  up  when  a  dog  comes  near  her  brood. 

Nervousness  or  excitement  is  shown  by  jerk- 
ing the  wings  and  tail,  and  if  a  bird  wishes  to 
escape  notice,  he  can  make  his  plumage  a  perfect 
disguise.  Mr.  Bolles's  pet  owl  would  stretch 
himself  up  long  and  slim,  with  feathers  hugging 
his  body,  when  he  looked  so  much  like  a  broken 
branch  of  a  tree  that  Mr.  Bolles  could  hardly 
see  him.  And  another  owl  that  I  heard  of,  when 
he  was  on  the  ground,  would  flatten  himself  and 
spread  his  plumage  around,  so  that  the  eye  could 
scarcely  separate  him  from  the  dead  leaves  about 
him. 

No  one  takes  better  care  of  his  dress  than  a 
bird,  and  that  is  why  it  looks  well  for  a  year. 
Every  day,  with  most  birds,  it  is  washed  and  care- 
fully dried,  each  feather  being  passed  through 
the  bill,  and  the  whole  thoroughly  shaken  out. 
At  night  one  may  often  see  robins  and  catbirds 
before  going  to  bed,  dressing  their  plumage 
and  shaking  off  the  day's  dust. 


HIS  DRESS  117 

Besides  washing  and  drying  the  feathers,  birds 
need  oil  to  keep  them  in  best  condition.  For 
this  purpose  they  have  a  little  "  oil  jug,"  a  small 
gland  over  the  tail,  out  of  which,  with  the  bill, 
they  can  squeeze  a  drop  of  oil.  We  often  see 
ducks  and  geese  oiling  their  feathers  before  a 
rain. 

Water  birds,  who  need  a  great  deal  of  oil  to 
keep  out  the  wet,  have  the  oil  jug  very  large. 

Birds  seem  to  know  perfectly  well  the  beauty 
of  their  plumage.  Not  only  do  they  try  to  show 
it  off,  as  the  peacock  when  he  spreads  his  tail, 
but  they  seem  to  feel  shame  when  their  feathers 
are  injured  or  soiled.  One  white  feather  coming 
in  where  it  does  not  belong  will  make  a  bird 
very  unhappy.  He  will  work  and  tug  at  it  to 
pull  it  out,  and  often  make  himself  actually  ill 
over  the  trouble.  I  had  a  captive  bird  who 
died,  I  think,  from  worry  and  work  over  a  wing 
feather  which  persisted  in  coming  in  white,  and 
which  he  insisted  on  pulling  out  every  time. 


xxvn 

DIFFERENT    COLORED    SUITS 

A  BIRD  does  not  always  wear  the  same  colored 
dress,  as  I  said  in  the  chapter  on  moulting.  A 
goldfinch,  who  through  the  summer  wears  a  gay 
yellow  coat,  comes  out  in  the  fall  in  plain  olive 
and  black;  and  the  scarlet  tanager,  who  flour- 
ishes in  the  most  brilliant  red,  changes  to  a  quiet 
green  in  winter.  Besides  these,  some  birds  wear 
at  one  season  a  spotted  coat,  and  come  out  after- 
wards in  one  of  plain  colors. 

Most  of  them  change  by  moulting,  as  I  ex- 
plained, the  old  feathers  dropping  out  and  new 
ones  of  another  color  coming  in ;  or,  to  speak 
exactly,  the  new  ones  growing  out  and  pushing 
the  old  ones  off  on  their  tips.  But  some  change 
color  without  moulting.  All  birds  moult  com- 
pletely in  the  autumn,  many  moult  partially  in 
the  spring,  and  some,  as  I  said,  change  without 
moulting. 

This  last  change  of  color  is  made  partly  by 
fading,  and  partly  by  breaking  off  the  tips  of  the 


DIFFERENT  COLORED  SUITS  119 

feathers,  or  what  is  called  "  abrasion."  This  is  a 
curious  process.  I  told  you  something  about  it 
in  chapter  vii.  Certain  feathers  have  edges  dif- 
ferent in  color  from  the  rest ;  as,  for  example, 
a  black  feather  with  tips  of  yellow.  While  the 
feathers  are  new  and  perfect,  as  they  lie  over 
each  other  like  shingles  on  a  roof,  only  the  edges 
show,  and  these  being  yellow,  the  bird  appears 
to  be  dressed  in  yellow.  But  the  yellow  tips  are 
not  so  strong  as  the  rest,  and  they  break  or  wear 
off,  or  are  pulled  off  in  the  spring.  What  is 
strange,  they  break  exactly  where  the  black 
begins.  So  as  soon  as  the  yellow  is  off,  the  black 
shows,  and  behold,  the  yellow  bird  suddenly 
becomes  a  black  bird. 

That  is  the  way  some  birds  manage  to  put  on 
their  spring  dress  in  the  fall.  The  solid  color  is 
the  color  of  the  spring,  but  it  is  hidden  or  veiled 
by  tips  of  another  color  for  winter. 

The  ineadowlark  changes  in  this  way.  In  the 
winter  his  coat  is  brownish,  or  buff.  In  the 
spring  these  tips  are  worn  or  broken  off,  and  he 
comes  out  in  yellow  and  black. 

Another  change,  even  more  curious,  is  made 
by  some  birds,  who  all  winter  wear  white  spots, 
or  light  scolloped  edges  to  their  feathers,  and 
in  spring  the  spots  are  gone. 

In  these,  the  white  or  light  parts  only  break 


120  HOW  HE  IS  MADE 

off,  as  sharply  as  if  cut  with  scissors.  They  leave 
the  edges  of  the  feathers  notched  in  queer  ways, 
but  as  they  lie  over  each  other  that  does  not 
show. 

Birds  in  this  way  can  change  color  without 
changing  their  feathers.  While  moulting  but 
once  a  year,  they  can  show  two  suits,  and  by 
partially  moulting  twice,  can  show  three  suits. 

Another  thing  about  the  color  of  feathers  is 
interesting.  Some  colors,  such  as  black,  and  red, 
and  brown,  are  caused  by  coloring  matter  in  the 
feather.  But  other  colors  are  only  an  effect  of 
the  way  the  feather  is  made,  whether  it  has 
ridges  on  it,  or  certain  minute  specks  under  the 
surface,  which  seem  to  act  as  prisms  (says  Dr. 
Newton),  and  reflect  the  light  in  different  colors. 

For  instance,  green  is  always  due  to  some 
shade  of  yellow  coloring  matter  under  a  surface 
full  of  lengthwise  ridges,  and  other  colors  are 
made  in  similar  ways. 

These  curious  facts  have  been  found  out  by 
that  tell-tale  little  instrument  the  microscope,  and 
no  doubt  it  will  reveal  many  more  secrets  in  time. 

Color  is  useful  to  birds,  as  well  as  beautiful. 
Its  great  use  is  to  conceal  them  from  their  ene- 
mies, and  they  show  that  they  know  this  by  their 
conduct. 

When  a  bird  is  of  the  color  of  dead  leaves,  or 


BLACK  AND  WHITE  WARBLERS  (MALE  AND  FEMALE) 


DIFFERENT  COLORED  SUITS  121 

the  sand,  he  has  only  to  flatten  himself  and  keep 
still,  and  he  is  hidden.  Such  a  bird  on  the  nest 
will  often  let  one  come  close,  and  even  stroke 
her,  while  relying  on  her  color  to  be  unseen.  A 
sitting  ruffed  grouse  will  do  so.  But  if  snow 
falls,  the  same  bird  is  very  wild,  for  she  knows 
she  can  be  seen  in  the  snow. 

I  have  seen  a  striped  bird,  —  black  and  white 
warbler,  —  when  frightened,  flatten  himself  on  a 
branch,  where  he  looked  so  much  like  the  bark 
that  he  could  not  be  seen. 

Ground  birds  are  mostly  in  mottled  colors  of 
the  ground.  The  whip-poor-will,  whose  habit  it 
is  to  rest  on  a  log  all  day,  wears  colors  that  hide 
him  as  well  as  if  he  were  under  the  log. 

The  striking  colors  on  a  bird  are  often  hidden 
when  he  is  at  rest,  but  show  plainly  when  he 
flies.  When  a  flicker  stands  quietly  on  a  fence 
he  is  all  in  rather  dull  colors,  but  when  he  flies 
he  shows  a  large  snow-white  spot  on  his  back,  so 
that  as  far  as  one  can  see  him  he  may  be  known. 

A  meadowlark  on  the  ground  looks  not  unlike 
a  flicker,  but  when  he  flies  he  shows  that  the 
outside  feathers  of  his  tail  are  white.  This  is  as 
striking  a  mark  as  the  white  spot  on  the  flicker. 

Many  birds  have  such  markings,  and  it  is 
thought  by  men  who  study  birds  and  look  for 
a  use  in  everything,  that  such  marks  serve  the 


122  HOW  HE  IS  MADE 

purpose  of  "  danger  signals  "or  "  recognition 
marks."  That  by  these  birds  can  know  each 
other  in  the  dusk,  or  that  the  flash  of  color  will 
catch  the  eye,  when  the  bird  does  not  wish  to 
give  a  call,  but  to  slip  away  quietly  to  avoid 
danger,  and  at  the  same  time  to  give  notice  to 
other  birds  to  do  the  same. 


HIS  RELATIONS  WITH  US 


xxvm 

HOW    HE   WORKS    FOR   US 

MANY  times  in  this  book  I  have  spoken  of  the 
great  value  of  the  services  of  birds,  in  helping  us 
destroy  insects  and  weeds  that  injure  our  crops. 
But  there  is  more  to  be  said  about  it. 

From  morning  till  night,  almost  the  whole  of 
his  life,  nearly  every  bird  is  working  for  us.  He 
does  not  know  he  is  working  for  us,  of  course. 
He  is  simply  hunting  for  the  food  he  likes,  and 
what  is  good  for  young  birds  to  eat. 

But  what  he  chooses  to  eat  himself,  and  to 
feed  the  young,  consists  mostly  of  creatures  that 
destroy  our  fruit  and  vegetables,  caterpillars  that 
eat  the  leaves  off  our  trees,  worms  that  get  into 
our  apples  and  berries,  beetles  that  spoil  our 
roses  and  our  potatoes,  mice  that  eat  our  crops, 
and  all  the  worms  and  grubs  that  gardeners  and 
farmers  are  all  the  time  fighting. 

As  I  have  already  said,  some  of  the  birds  like 
cherries  and  green  peas,  and  other  things  we 
prefer  to  keep  for  ourselves.  But  we  should 


126  HIS  RELATIONS  WITH   US 

never  forget   that   they  have   earned,  by  their 
work  among  the  worms,  all  they  can  take. 

I  say  this,  not  merely  because  I  love  the  birds, 
and  want  to  have  them  live  and  be  happy,  but 
because  it  is  true.  It  has  been  proved  true  by 
scientific  men  in  the  service  of  the  United  States 
government. 

These  men  have  had  thousands  of  birds  killed 
to  see  what  they  were  eating,  and  have  found 
out  that  nearly  all  the  birds  they  have  exam- 
ined—  blackbirds,  cedar-birds,  blue  jays,  hawks, 
owls,  even  crows  —  do  us  more  good  by  the  in- 
jurious creatures  they  destroy,  than  harm  by  the 
fruits  and  vegetables  they  eat.  To  this  there 
is,  among  the  small  birds,  but  one  exception,  the 
English  sparrow,  and,  of  the  large  ones,  only  the 
two  hawks  and  one  owl,  mentioned  on  vpage  53. 

Chickadees  like  to  eat  the  eggs  of  canker- 
worms  ;  and  for  a  single  meal,  one  of  these  tiny 
birds  will  eat  two  hundred  and  fifty  eggs,  and 
he  will  take  several  meals  a  day.  Now  canker- 
worms  destroy  our  apples.  When  they  get  into 
an  orchard  in  force,  it  looks,  as  Miss  Merriam 
says,  as  if  it  had  been  burned  over. 

Robins,  catbirds,  and  shrikes,  and  several  oth- 
ers, like  to  eat  cutworms,  which  destroy  grass 
and  other  plants.  As  many  as  three  hundred  of 
them  have  been  found  in  the  stomach  of  one 


HOW  HE  WORKS  FOR  US  127 

robin,  of  course  for  one  meal.  Ants  are  very 
troublesome  in  many  ways,  and  three  thousand 
of  them  have  been  taken  from  the  stomach  of 
one  flicker. 

Eats  and  mice,  ground  squirrels  and  gophers, 
make  great  havoc  in  our  crops,  and  farmers 
spend  much  time  and  labor  trying  to  get  rid  of 
them ;  but  these  creatures  are  the  favorite  food 
of  most  hawks  and  owls. 

If  the  farmer  would  stop  shooting  the  birds, 
and  protect  them  instead,  they  would  do  this 
work  for  him,  and  much  better  than  he  can. 
But  because  (as  I  said  in  a  former  chapter)  one 
or  two  hawks  and  owls  have  a  taste  for  chickens, 
he  generally  kills  every  hawk  and  owl  he  sees, 
and  for  this  folly  has  to  spend  half  his  time  try- 
ing to  kill  the  little  animals  they  would  gladly 
have  eaten. 

A  great  deal  of  refuse,  dead  sea  creatures, 
and  other  matter,  is  thrown  up  on  the  seashore, 
or  floats  on  the  water.  On  this  feed  the  water 
birds,  —  herons,  gulls,  terns,  and  others.  If  this 
were  not  disposed  of,  it  would  make  us  sick. 
Indeed,  on  the  shores  where  so  many  herons  have 
been  killed,  to  get  their  plumes  for  ladies'  hats, 
the  result  has  been  sickness  and  death  among 
the  people,  as  Dr.  Gaumer,  of  Yucatan,  told  Mr, 
Chapman* 


128  HIS  RELATIONS   WITH  US 

Besides  the  work  they  do  for  us  in  destroying 
animal  life,  their  seed-eating  is  almost  as  useful. 
As  I  said,  they  eat  the  seeds  of  weeds  that 
farmers  and  gardeners  are  all  the  time  laboring 
to  keep  down,  so  that  useful  plants  may  have 
a  chance  to  grow. 

The  whole  family  of  finches,  sparrows,  bunt- 
ings, grosbeaks,  and  all  birds  with  the  high, 
thick  bill,  though  they  eat  largely  of  insects 
through  the  summer,  and  feed  their  nestlings  on 
them,  when  insects  get  scarce  and  weed  seeds 
are  ripe,  turn  to  the  latter  for  food.  They  eat 
the  seeds  of  all  kinds  of  troublesome  weeds  ;  and 
as  each  single  seed  might  produce  a  plant,  we 
cannot  guess  how  much  they  destroy. 

Professor  Beal,  who  is  at  the  head  of  this  gov- 
ernment inquiry  into  the  food  of  birds,  and  who 
knows  what  he  is  talking  about,  says  that  one 
species  of  little  bird  —  the  tree  sparrow  —  de- 
stroys every  year  in  one  of  the  Western  States, 
many  tons  of  the  seeds  of  weeds. 

There  is  a  curious  and  interesting  fact  about 
this  seed-eating.  The  regular  seed-eaters,  the 
finches,  prefer  the  seeds  of  certain  weeds,  most 
of  them  harmful;  these  they  break  up,  taking 
off  the  shells,  and  of  course  destroying  the  germ, 
making  it  impossible  for  them  to  grow. 

But  there  are  many  birds  who  eat  berries  hav- 


HOW  HE  WORKS  FOR  US  129 

ing  in  them  seeds,  such  as  raspberries,  blackber- 
ries, and  all  kinds  of  wild  fruit.  These  birds  do 
not  crack  the  seeds  ;  and,  as  they  are  hard,  they 
do  not  digest  in  the  stomach,  but  are  dropped 
whole,  and  are  ready  to  grow  wherever  they 
fall. 

Thus,  while  seed-eating  birds  destroy  the  weeds 
which  are  hurtful,  the  fruit-eaters  plant  the  seeds 
of  berries  and  fruit  which  we  like.  That  is  why 
we  find  wild  berry  bushes  all  over  the  country. 
We  have  to  thank  the  birds  for  it. 

A  great  deal  more  could  be  said  about  ths 
birds'  work  for  us,  not  only  of  the  robins  and 
those  I  have  spoken  of,  but  cedar-birds,  who 
are  shot  because  they  take  part  of  our  cherries, 
blackbirds,  because  they  eat  some  grain,  ori- 
oles, because  they  occasionally  take  green  peas, 
and  kingbirds,  because  they  have  the  name  of 
eating  bees,  though  it  has  been  proved  that  they 
eat  only  drones,  which  have  no  sting  and  make 
no  honey. 

Let  me  impress  upon  you  two  facts.  First, 
the  stories  of  the  harm  done  by  birds  are  often 
mere  guesswork,  from  careless  observation.  For 
instance,  a  man  seeing  a  bird  going  over  his 
blossoming  fruit-trees,  at  once  concludes  he  is 
destroying  the  fruit,  probably  shoots  him,  and 
then  writes  to  his  favorite  paper  that  a  certab 


130  HIS  RELATIONS  WITH  US 

bird  eats  fruit  buds.  Other  papers  copy  it,  and 
a  war  against  that  bird  begins  in  every  orchard. 

Whereas,  the  truth  is,  the  bird  was  preserving 
the  fruit  by  picking  out  the  insects  that  would 
have  spoiled  it.  This  is  no  fancy  picture ;  this 
very  thing  has  happened  more  than  once. 

And  again,  whatever  is  said  about  the  harm 
this  or  that  bird  does,  never  forget  this  second 
fact,  which  I  repeat,  and  which  may  be  relied 
upon  as  perfectly  trustworthy.  The  officers  of 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  who  have 
carefully  studied  the  matter  and  found  out  posi- 
tively, without  guesswork,  what  birds  eat,  have 
declared  emphatically  that  every  bird  they  have 
examined  does  more  good  by  destroying  pests, 
than  harm  to  our  crops,  excepting  only  the  bird 
we  have  imported,  —  the  English  or  house  spar 
row 


XXIX 

HOW   TO   ATTRACT    HIM   ABOUT    OUR    HOMES 

BECAUSE  birds  are  so  useful  to  us,  as  well  as 
because  they  are  so  interesting  and  so  beautiful, 
it  is  delightful  to  have  them  come  about  our 
homes.  And  it  is  not  at  all  difficult,  for  they 
are  easily  taught  to  like  us. 

In  countries  where  people  are  gentle,  and  try 
to  make  birds  happy,  instead  of  shooting  them 
or  throwing  stones  at  them,  they  become  very 
tame.  Mr.  Hearn,  who  has  written  about  Japan, 
says  that  the  fearlessness  of  wild  creatures  is  one 
of  the  most  charming  things  about  the  remote 
parts  of  Japan,  "  where  tourists  with  shotguns 
have  not  yet  come." 

Travelers  who  visit  Norway  tell  us  that  birds 
are  never  disturbed  there,  and  they  come  freely 
about  the  houses.  When  it  is  very  cold  they 
even  come  into  the  houses  for  food  and  warmth, 
and  no  one  thinks  of  frightening  them  or  trying 
to  catch  them. 

Even  in  our  own  country,  Dr.  Ridgway  told 


132  HIS  RELATIONS  WITH  US 

me  of  a  bird-lover  in  Florida  who  would  not  let 
birds  be  annoyed  on  his  place.  As  a  result  he 
had  a  great  many  there,  and  they  became  very 
tame.  Cardinal  grosbeaks,  who  are  rather  shy, 
were  so  tame  they  would  take  food  from  his 
hand. 

A  person  living  in  the  country,  wishing  to 
draw  the  birds  about  his  place,  should  begin  by 
protecting  it.  Cats  should  not  be  allowed  to 
come  near,  English  sparrows  should  be  kept 
down,  and  boys  who  shoot  or  throw  stones  should 
be  banished  from  the  vicinity. 

Next,  trees  and  shrubs  that  birds  like,  for 
nesting  and  for  food,  should  be  set  out.  For 
nesting,  a  very  attractive  place  for  the  smaller 
species  is  a  thick  hedge  of  bushes,  the  thicker 
and  closer  the  better. 

Nesting-boxes  nailed  up  in  trees  please  many, 
and  evergreen  trees  will  draw  some  that  would 
not  come  otherwise.  For  food,  various  berry- 
bearing  shrubs  and  trees  should  be  provided, 
such  as  chokecherry,  shadberry,  mulberry,  and 
others. 

In  a  town  or  city,  besides  shrubs  that  birds 
like,  a  high  fence,  with  a  top  that  cats  cannot 
walk  on,  is  desirable,  and  a  readiness  to  go  to 
their  assistance  is  soon  appreciated. 

A  friend  told  me  a  few  days  ago  of  a  family 


HOW  TO  ATTRACT  HIM_  ABOUT  OUR  HOMES    133 

of  wood  thrushes  who  nested  last  summer  in  the 
yard  of  her  house  in  the  city  of  Orange,  N.  J. 
The  birds  soon  found  out  that  some  of  the  fam- 
ily would  come  to  drive  away  strange  cats  which 
came  in.  After  they  learned  that,  when  a  cat 
appeared  they  would  give  a  peculiar  cry,  unlike 
any  other  heard  from  them.  On  hearing  this, 
one  of  the  family  always  hurried  out  and  drove 
the  enemy  away. 

If  the  birds  could  not  get  any  response  from 
a  call  at  the  kitchen  door,  they  would  fly  to  the 
front  of  the  house,  perch  on  the  piazza  rail,  and 
call  till  some  one  came  out.  All  through  nesting- 
time  they  thus  called  on  their  friends  for  protec- 
tion, and  the  delight  the -family  had  over  the 
nest  and  the  friendly  birds  amply  repaid  them 
for  their  trouble. 

The  one  great  necessity,  in  both  city  and 
country,  is  water  for  drinking  and  bathing.  It 
should  be  in  a  shallow  dish.  The  rough  saucer 
of  a  flower-pot  is  best,  because  the  bird's  feet 
do  not  slip  on  it,  and  the  edge  is  broad  and  round 
and  easy  to  perch  on. 

Next  best  is  an  earthen  dish,  with  clean 
pebbles  in  the  bottom,  to  prevent  slipping,  which 
frightens  them.  Water  should  never  be  more 
than  two  inches  deep,  but  should  always  be  clean, 
and  fresh  two  or  three  times  a  day. 


134  HIS  RELATIONS  WITH  US 

No  food  should  be  offered  in  summer,  be* 
cause  we  want  them  to  get  their  natural  food  of 
worms  and  seeds. 

In  the  winter  it  is  different.  They  should 
have  food  regularly.  But  once  used  to  having 
their  wants  supplied,  they  will  depend  upon  it, 
and  suffer  and  probably  starve,  if  they  are  neg- 
lected or  forgotten.  So  one  should  be  very 
sure  he  will  not  get  tired  of  it,  before  he  teaches 
them  to  expect  food. 

To  feed  them  safely,  a  shelf  must  be  placed 
out  of  the  reach  of  cats  and  bad  boys.  On  the 
sill  of  a  window  is  a  good  place,  or  the  roof  of 
a  piazza,  or  a  little  balcony.  Breakfast  should 
be  served  to  them  at  the  same  hour  every  day, 
and  they  will  soon  know  when  to  come  for  it. 

For  food,  they  will  eat  any  table  scraps  of 
meat,  and  vegetables,  and  bread,  chopped  fine, 
and  most  kinds  of  grain,  broken  up,  or  crushed, 
for  the  smaller  birds. 

But  the  thing  they  all  like  best  of  everything 
is  raw  suet,  as  it  comes  from  the  butcher.  A 
large  piece  may  be  wired  or  nailed  in  place,  so 
that  it  may  be  picked  at  and  not  displaced,  or  it 
may  be  chopped  fine  and  scattered  on  the  shelf, 
like  other  food.  All  birds  are  fond  of  this. 

In  winter  they  need  water,  and  it  should  then, 
also,  be  fresh. 


HOW  TO  ATTRACT  HIM  ABOUT  OUR  HOMES    135 

A  lady  living  in  southern  Ohio,  who  has  for 
several  years  given  a  breakfast  to  the  birds 
every  day  in  winter,  told  me  that  her  daily 
guests  last  season  were  hairy  and  downy  wood- 
peckers, nuthatches,  white  and  red-breasted,  one 
young  kinglet,  a  pair  of  chickadees,  tufted  tit- 
mice, blue  jays,  j uncos,  cardinal  grosbeaks,  Caro- 
lina wrens,  and  sparrows. 

This  delightful  company  came  regularly  for 
breakfast,  and  to  pay  her,  sang  nearly  through 
the  season. 

In  the  latitude  of  New  York  there  are  about 
forty  birds  who  spend  the  winter,  and  of  course 
there  are  more  as  one  goes  south.  In  the 
Southern  States,  many  of  our  northern  birds 
may  be  studied  in  the  winter. 


XXX 

HOW    TO   STUDY   HIM 

AN  attractive  thing  about  bird  study  is  the 
fact  that  there  is  still  so  much  to  be  found  out. 

Men  have  been  studying  the  dead  bird  for 
many  years.  All  about  the  body  is  well  known. 
The  way  he  is  made,  the  arrangement  of  his 
bones  and  his  organs,  are  plainly  set  forth  in 
the  books,  in  words  and  pictures. 

The  shape  and  colors  of  his  plumage,  how 
many  feathers  belong  to  his  wing  and  tail,  his 
length,  his  extent,  the  shape  of  his  beak  and 
his  foot,  —  all  these  facts  are  to  be  found  in 
every  Ornithology. 

Some  of  his  most  easily  noted  habits,  too,  are 
familiar;  where  and  when  he  nests,  where  he 
spends  his  time,  and  where  he  goes  in  the  winter, 
what  he  eats,  and  when  he  changes  his  dress. 

But  really  to  know  the  living  bird,  to  make 
acquaintance  with  the  individual,  to  see  his  fam' 
ily  life,  his  manners,  his  intelligence,  his  powers, 
—  this  kind  of  study  has  hardly  begun. 


HOW  TO  STUDY  HIM  137 

This  almost  new  and  most  attractive  field  is 
open  to  us  to-day.  It  offers  a  charming  study, 
with  the  added  interest  of  discoveries  to  be 
made.  Nor  is  it  so  hard  as  most  persons  think. 

In  the  beginning  there  are  two  things  to 
learn  :  first,  how  to  study  from  life  ;  and  second, 
how  to  identify  without  killing.  To  study  is 
simply  to  observe  closely  and  carefully,  and  to 
report  accurately. 

Take  a  little  lesson  in  observing :  When  yon 
see  a  bird  do  not  merely  gaze  idly  at  him,  but 
take  note  of  everything  about  him.  What  he 
is  doing,  how  he  is  doing  it,  and  all  his  points, 
his  size  and  shape,  his  colors  and  markings. 

If  he  is  getting  food,  as  he  most  often  is, 
see  whether  he  picks  it  from  the  tree  trunk  or 
gathers  it  from  grass  tops ;  whether  he  hunts  it 
among  leaves,  bores  the  bark,  drops  to  the 
ground,  or  sails  out  into  the  air  for  it. 

Then  try  to  discover  what  it  is  —  insect  or 
seed,  beetle,  grub,  or  worm  —  and  what  he  does 
with  it,  —  swallow  it  at  once,  beat  it  to  death,  or 
hold  it  in  his  mouth  uneaten. 

Then  notice  his  manners,  —  if  he  stands  still, 
or  jerks  his  tail  or  body ;  if  he  flits  about  the 
branches,  hovers  before  a  flower,  or  hammers  at 
the  door  of  an  unlucky  grub  behind  the  bark. 
Next,  does  he  walk  or  hop  ?  does  he  chatter  OJ 


138  HIS  RELATIONS  WITH  US 

keep  silent?  fly  straight,  or  go  bounding  in 
great  waves  through  the  air  ?  Ah1  these  things 
you  must  learn  to  see,  and  to  note  down  the  mo- 
ment you  do  so,  so  that  you  will  not  be  uncer- 
tain or  confused  when  you  take  your  books  to 
see  who  he  is. 

Then  you  must  take  note  of  his  size,  and  to 
do  this  —  as  it  is  hard  to  judge  of  inches  —  it  is 
well  to  have  in  mind  a  sort  of  index  of  size 
to  which  you  can  compare  him.  Take  the  most 
common  and  best-known  birds  for  standards,  the 
robin,  the  English  sparrow,  and  one  smaller,  — 
the  wren,  or  the  "  chebec  "  (least  flycatcher). 
When  you  see  a  bird,  if  he  is  as  big  as  a  robin, 
enter  in  your  note :  "  Size,  robin."  Should  he 
be  a  little  smaller,  yet  still  larger  than  your 
measure,  —  the  English  sparrow,  —  you  can 
note  it,  "Size,  robin  — -,"  the  minus  sign  mean- 
ing that  it  is  less.  If  he  were  larger,  you  would 
put  the  plus  sign  :  "Size,  robin  -f-." 

Observe  the  shape,  whether  it  is  slim  like  an 
oriole,  or  chunky  like  a  chickadee ;  also  any 
peculiarity  of  plumage,  as  a  crest,  specially  long 
or  strangely  formed  tail  feathers;  the  end  of 
the  tail,  whether  square,  rounded,  pointed,  or 
notched. 

Then  notice  the  beak ;  its  length  compared  to 
the  head,  its  shape  and  color.  If  it  is  high  and 


HOW  TO  STUDY  HIM 


139 


FIG.  18. 
Canadian  Warbler. 


thick,  like  a  canary's  or  spar- 
row's, the  bird  is  a  seed- 
eater  ;  if  long  and  straight, 
like  a  robin's,  he  is  an  in- 
sect-eater; if  sharp  and  flat, 
opening  very  wide  like  a 
swallow's,  he  is  a  flycatcher. 

Lastly,  note  the  plumage, 
the  general  color,  then  spe- 
cial markings,  such  as  bars 
on  wings  or  tail,  a  ring 
around  the  eye  (Fig.  18),  or 
a  line  over  or  through  the 
eye  (Fig.  19),  white  or  black 
throat  (Fig.  20  or  19), 
speckled  or  striped  breast 
(Fig.  18),  or  any  conspicu- 
ous blotch.  Every  point 
must  be  set  down  the  mo- 
ment you  notice  it.  You 
cannot  trust  your  memory. 

With  these  full  notes,  re- 
turn to  your  study  and  take 
your  manual  to  find  out  his 
name,  or  to  identify. 

Many  persons  think  that 
in  order  to  know  a  bird,  and  especially  to  find 
out  his  name,  one  must  have  him  in  the  hand, 


FIG.  19. 

Black-throated  Green 
Warbler. 


FIG.  20. 
White-throated  Sparrow. 


I4D  HIS  RELATIONS  WITH  US 

count  his  wing  and  tail  feathers,  and  measure 
his  length.  Excepting  for  exact  scientific  pur- 
poses, this  is  not  at  all  necessary.  Almost  any 
bird  in  America  may  be  perfectly  identified  with- 
out touching  him,  indeed,  while  he  is  in  the 
enjoyment  of  his  liberty  in  a  tree.  For  birds 
have  marked  external  differences,  which  are 
carefully  set  down  in  the  books. 

The  modern  manuals,  too,  are  usually  fur- 
nished with  a  color  key,  the  use  of  which  is  fully 
explained  in  them.  With  the  help  of  this  you 
will  have  little  trouble  in  naming  your  bird. 

Above  all,  be  exact  in  your  knowledge  and 
do  not  jump  at  conclusions.  If  you  see  a  bird 
on  a  fruit-tree  picking  about  the  blossoms,  do 
not  decide  offhand  that  he  is  spoiling  the  fruit ; 
look  closely  to  see  if  he  is  not,  instead,  clearing 
it  of  worms  that  would  destroy  it  all.  When 
you  notice  a  bird  in  a  strawberry  bed,  do  not 
instantly  conclude  that  he  is  after  strawberries ; 
he  doesn't  care  half  so  much  for  berries  as  he 
does  for  insects,  and  very  often  he  is  engaged  in 
ridding  the  plants  of  pests,  at  the  moment  that 
he  is  scared  off  or  shot  by  a  careless  person,  who 
does  not  wait  to  see  whether  he  is  friend  or  foe. 

Although  patience  and  clear  eyes  alone  will 
open  many  delightful  secrets  of  bird  life,  a  good 
opera  glass  will  do  still  more.  It  will  bring  you 


HOW  TO  STUDY  HIM  141 

nearer  to  the  bird  without  frightening1  him. 
You  can  see  thus  much  better,  not  only  his 
markings,  but  what  he  is  doing.  In  a  word, 
you  can  be  more  sure  of  your  facts. 

In  deciding  upon  the  actions  of  a  bird,  never 
guess  at  anything.  If  you  see  a  pair  very  busy 
about  a  shrub,  you  may  be  sure  they  have  a 
nest  there,  but  do  not  so  record  it  till  you  have 
actually  seen  the  nest.  Even  then  you  should 
not  conclude  at  once  that  it  belongs  to  them ; 
I  have  seen  birds  sit  a  few  moments  in  nests 
which  did  not  belong  to  them  —  as  if  to  try 
them.  You  may  feel  very  sure  what  a  bird 
means  by  an  action,  but  you  should  set  down 
only  what  he  does.  Without  this  care,  your 
records  will  be  worthless. 

Do  not  discourage  yourself  by  trying  to  find 
the  name  of  every  tiny  atom  in  feathers  that  you 
see ;  indeed,  little  birds  flitting  about  the  tree- 
Cops  —  mostly  warblers  —  will  be  hard  for  you 
to  identify,  and  almost  impossible  to  watch.  I 
advise  you  to  confine  your  study  at  first  to  the 
larger  and  less  lively  birds,  —  kingbirds,  robins, 
thrushes,  phoebes,  bluebirds,  orioles,  goldfinches, 
and  others,  all  of  which  you  will  find  near  to 
houses  and  easy  to  study.  Do  not  expect  too 
much  at  once,  nor  give  up  in  despair  if  you  can- 
not identify  the  first  bird  you  see. 


142  HIS  RELATIONS  WITH  US 

You  may  be  sure  that  every  hour  you  hon- 
estly give  to  the  study  will  make  it  more  inter- 
esting; every  bird  you  learn  to  know  will  be 
like  a  new  and  delightful  companion. 

You  will  lose  your  desire  to  take  life  or  even 
to  steal  eggs  from  them ;  the  country  will  have 
new  charms  for  you ;  in  fact,  a  person  blessed 
with  a  love  of  the  study  of  birds  or  beasts  or 
insects  possesses  a  lifelong  and  inexhaustible 
source  of  interest  and  happiness. 

In  regard  to  a  manual,  there  are  now  so  many 
to  be  had,  one  hardly  knows  how  to  select.  I 
will  mention  only  two  or  three,  which  have  par- 
ticular points  of  value. 

A  good  book  to  begin  with,  for  residents  of 
New  England,  New  York,  and  the  Eastern 
Middle  States,  is  Professor  Willcox's  "  Land 
Birds  of  New  England"  (Lothrop  Lee  &  Shepard, 
Boston.  Price  60  cts.,  by  mail). 

Although  this  little  book  treats  of  only 
ninety  birds,  they  are  the  most  common,  and  its 
value  is  its  simplicity,  and  the  ease  with  which 
its  color  key  enables  one  to  identify  the  birds  it 
treats.  It  introduces  a  beginner  to  the  larger 
works  in  a  most  pleasing  way. 

A  good  general  work  for  Eastern  North 
America,  thoroughly  trustworthy  and  not  too 
technical  in  its  use  of  terms,  treating  all  the 


SCARLET   TANAGER 


HOW  TO  STUDY  HIM  143 

birds  of  the  locality,  is  Chapman's  "  Handbook 
of  the  Birds  of  Eastern  North  America  "  (Aj> 
pleton,  New  York.  Price  $3.00).  It  has  a 
color  key  and  a  color  chart,  by  which  one  may 
see  what  is  meant  by  colors  named. 

Especially  attractive  to  ladies  and  amateurs, 
for  its  charming  accounts  of  bird  life,  is  Mrs. 
Wright's  "Birdcraft"  (Macmillan,  New  York. 
Price,  $2.00).  It  treats  but  two  hundred  spe- 
cies, but  that  includes  the  birds  usually  seen  in 
the  New  England  and  Northern  Middle  States. 
It  has  a  color  key. 

The  whole  United  States  is  covered  by  Dr. 
Coues's  "Key  to  North  American  Birds,"  2  vol- 
umes (The  Page  Company,  Boston.  Price  $12.50). 
It  is  not  quite  so  easy  for  the  beginner,  but  it 
is  untechnical  in  style,  and  fully  illustrated. 

One  book  deserving  mention  because  of  its 
value  as  an  aid  to  teachers  is  Miss  Merriam's 
"  Birds  of  Village  and  Field  "  (Houghton  Mif- 
flin  Co.,  Boston.  Price  $2.00).  It  is  exception- 
ally rich  in  facts  and  statistics  relating  to  the 
economic  value  of  birds.  It  treats  nearly  two 
hundred  of  the  most  common  birds. 

A  book  intended  for  identification  only  is 
Professor  Apgar's  "  Birds  of  the  United  States  " 
(American  Book  Company,  New  York.  Price 
$2.00).  It  is  the  result  of  his  experience  as 


144  HIS  RELATIONS  WITH  US 

teacher,  and  has  several  new  features  very  help- 
ful to  beginners,  such  as  small  cuts  at  the  bot- 
tom of  pages  to  explain  terms,  thus  showing 
exactly  what  is  meant,  for  example,  by  "  wing 
bars  "  or  "  rounded  tail."  It  also  gives  hints 
about  the  usual  locality  of  a  bird,  whether  creep- 
ing over  a  tree  trunk,  on  the  wing,  or  elsewhere. 
It  takes  particular  note  of  size,  having  one  sec- 
tion for  birds  about  the  size  of  an  English  spar- 
row, and  so  on.  The  pronunciation  of  the  Latin 
names  is  carefully  indicated.  There  are  several 
chapters  giving  descriptions  of  the  external  parts 
of  a  bird,  and  there  is  a  glossary  of  scientific 
terms. 

The  following  list  of  points  to  observe  in 
watching  birds  has  been  used  to  advantage  by 
classes  in  bird  study.  A  little  familiarity  with 
this  will  help  one  to  remember  what  to  look  for. 

A  similar,  but  fuller  and  more  elaborate,  list 
has  been  prepared,  and  bound  up  in  tablets,  to 
use  in  the  field.  It  is  for  sale  by  Miss  J.  A. 
Clark,  1322  Twelfth  Street,  N.  W.,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C. 


POINTS  TO  OBSERVE 

1.  Locality  —  tree  :  bush  :  ground. 

2.  Size  —  compared  to  robin  :  English  sparrow. 

3.  Form  —  long  :  short :  slender  :  plump. 

4.  Beak  —  high :    stout :   wide :    hooked  :    long :    lobes 

drawn  down. 

5.  Tail  —  length  :  shape  at  end. 

6.  Legs  —  long  :  short :  scales. 

7.  Toes  —  webbed  :  how  turned :  hind  claw  long. 

8.  Color  —  bright :  striking  :  dull :  plain. 

9.  Markings  —  on  head  :  breast :  wing  :  tail :  back. 

10.  Manners  —  walk :  hop  :  quiet :  active :  noisy :  silent 

11.  Habits  —  eating   seeds  :      berries  :      insects :     from 

ground  :  tree  trunk  :  leaves. 

12.  Song  —  long  :  short :  continuous :  broken. 

13.  Flight  —  direct :  undulating  :  fluttering :  labored. 

14.  Nest  —  where  placed  :  shape  :  materials  :  eggs. 

15.  Young  —  plumage:  behavior. 


SECOND  BOOK 


THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 


WHAT   IS   A   BIRD    FAMILY? 

IN  the  "  First  Book  of  Birds  "  I  told  you  about 
the  common  life  of  a  bird  ;  what  sort  of  a  home 
he  has,  and  how  he  is  taken  care  of  when  little ; 
then  how  he  lives  when  grown  up ;  what  he  eats ; 
where  he  sleeps ;  and  something  about  how  he  is 
made. 

In  this  book,  I  want  to  help  you  a  step  further 
on  in  your  study  of  birds.  I  shall  tell  you  some- 
thing about  particular  birds,  about  the  families 
they  belong  to,  and  the  different  ways  in  which 
they  live. 

To  begin  with  :  What  is  a  bird  family  ?  In 
life,  a  bird  family  is  exactly  like  a  human  family. 
It  consists  of  father,  mother,  and  children.  But 
in  the  books,  a  family  means  quite  another  thing. 

Men  who  study  the  Science  of  Birds,  or  Orni- 


2  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

Ihology,  have  placed  the  birds  in  groups  which 
they  call  families,  to  make  it  easier  to  find  out 
about  them,  and  write  about  them.  This  way  of 
arranging  them  in  books  is  called  classification 
—  or  forming  them  into  classes. 

Birds  are  classified,  not  by  the  way  they  look, 
but  by  the  way  they  are  made,  or  their  structure, 
and  this  is  found  out  by  the  study  of  Scientific 
Ornithology.  Birds  may  look  a  good  deal  alike, 
and  act  alike,  and  yet  be  differently  made. 

There  is  first  the  grand  class  AVES,  which 
includes  all  creatures  who  wear  feathers.  This 
class  is  divided  into  orders. 

Orders  are  made  by  putting  together  a  large 
number  of  birds  who  are  alike  in  one  thing.  For 
instance,  all  birds  who  have  feet  made  to  clasp  a 
perch,  and  so  are  perchers,  are  put  in  an  order 
together. 

But  many  birds  have  feet  for  perching  who 
are  very  different  in  other  ways.  So  orders  are 
divided  into  families,  which  I  shall  tell  you  about 
in  this  book. 

In  each  family  I  shall  tell  you  about  one  or 
more  of  the  best  known,  or  the  ones  you  are  most 
likely  to  see,  and  that  will  help  you  to  know  the 
rest  of  the  family  when  you  begin  to  study  birds 
out  of  doors,  and  use  the  manual  to  learn  the 
names. 


WHAT  IS  A  BIRD  FAMILY  3 

I  shall  often  speak  of  what  has  been  found  out 
about  the  food  of  birds,  and  I  want  to  tell  you 
here,  once  for  all,  how  it  was  done,  so  that  you 
may  understand  just  what  I  mean  when  I  speak 
of  the  work  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture. 
The  Government  of  the  United  States  has  in 
Washington  a  department  with  a  head  and  many 
men  under  him,  whose  business  it  is  to  take 
charge  of  everything  concerning  agriculture, 
that  is,  farming,  fruit-growing,  etc.  This  is 
called  the  Department  of  Agriculture. 

Farmers  and  fruit-growers  made  so  much  com- 
plaint of  the  damage  done  to  crops  by  birds, 
that  this  department  determined  to  find  out  just 
what  birds  do  eat.  The  only  way  it  could  be 
done  was  by  having  the  birds  killed  and  seeing 
what  food  was  in  their  stomachs,  for  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  tell  by  watching  them.  To  know 
positively  which  birds  do  harm  by  eating  more 
grain  or  fruit  than  insects,  and  which  do  good 
by  eating  more  insects,  would  save  the  lives  of 
many  thousands.  So  the  killing  of  those  they 
studied  was  useful  to  the  whole  race. 

When  they  wanted  to  find  out  what  crows  eat, 
they  had  crows  killed  all  over  the  country  — 
hundreds  of  them  —  and  the  stomachs,  with  the 
food  in,  sent  to  them  in  Washington.  Then  they 
went  to  work  and  examined  every  one.  They 


4  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

could  tell  by  the  shells  of  seeds  and  the  hard 
parts  of  insects,  and  bones  and  hair  of  mice,  etc., 
just  what  had  been  eaten.  And  the  contents  of 
every  stomach  was  written  down  and  preserved 
in  a  book.  Thus,  you  see,  they  could  tell  what 
crows  were  in  the  habit  of  feeding  upon. 

They  did  this  with  many  other  birds  who  are 
said  to  do  harm,  —  hawks,  owls,  blackbirds,  king- 
birds, and  others.  That  is  how  we  come  to  know 
what  birds  eat,  and  can  tell  whether  they  do  harm 
or  good.  There  can  be  no  mistake  in  this  way 
of  knowing,  and  so  what  comes  from  this  depart- 
ment may  be  relied  upon  as  true. 

I  want  this  little  book  to  help  the  bird-lovers 
in  the  South  and  West  of  our  big  country,  as 
well  as  in  the  East ;  and  so,  in  each  Family,  I 
shall  try  to  tell  about  a  bird  who  may  be  seen 
in  each  part.  A  good  many  of  our  birds  are 
found  both  East  and  West,  with  slight  differ- 
ences, but  some  that  are  in  one  part  are  not 
in  the  other. 


n 

THE    THRUSH   FAMILY 

(Turdidce)  l 

THIS  family  is  named  after  the  thrushes,  but 
our  familiar  robin  belongs  to  it,  and  also  the 
sweet-voiced  bluebird.  The  birds  of  this  family 
are  all  rather  good  sized,  and  excepting  the  blue- 
bird show  no  bright  colors.  Nearly  all  of  them 
have  spotted  breasts  when  young,  and  many  of 
them  keep  the  spots  all  their  lives.  Young  rob- 
ins and  bluebirds  have  spots  on  breasts  and  shoul- 
ders, but  when  they  get  their  grown-up  plumage 
there  are  none  to  be  seen. 

The  thrush  family  get  around  by  hopping,  and 
do  not  walk,  though  some  of  them  run,  as  you 
have  seen  the  robin  do  on  the  lawn.  Most  of 
them  live  in  the  woods,  and  feed  on  the  ground, 
and  all  of  them  eat  insects.  Because  their  feed- 
ing grounds  freeze  up  in  winter,  most  of  these 
birds  go  to  a  warmer  climate,  or  migrate.  They 
are  all  good  singers,  and  some  of  them  among 
the  best  in  America. 

1  See  Appendix,  1. 


6       THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

The  best  known  of  this  family  is  the  robin, 
AMERICAN  ROBIN,  to  give  him  his  whole  name. 
He  is  found  all  over  the  United  States.  In  the 
summer  he  lives  in  the  Eastern  and  Middle 
States,  in  the  winter  he  lives  in  the  Southern 
States,  and  he  lives  all  the  year  round  in  Cali- 
fornia. 

The  California  robin  is  called  the  Western 
Robin,  and  is  a  little  lighter  in  color  than  his 
Eastern  brother ;  but  he  is  the  same  jolly  fellow 
under  his  feathers,  and  robin  song  is  about  the 
same  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific. 

I  'm  sure  you  all  know  how  he  looks,  with 
black  head,  slate-colored  back  and  wings,  streaked 
throat,  and  dull  red  or  chestnut  breast.  His 
mate  is  not  quite  so  dark  in  color. 

Robins  start  for  their  nesting-place,  which  is 
their  real  home,  very  early,  almost  the  first  of 
the  birds.  They  make  a  nest,  not  very  high,  in 
a  tree  or  about  our  houses,  with  a  good  deal  of 
mud  in  it.  Not  all  nests  are  alike.  Sometimes 
a  bird  will  show  a  fancy  for  a  pretty-looking 
nest.  I  have  seen  one  made  of  the  white  flowers 
of  life-everlasting.  The  stems  were  woven  to- 
gether for  the  framework,  and  the  little  clusters 
of  blossoms  left  outside  for  ornament. 

The  young  robin  just  out  of  the  nest  is  a 
pretty  fellow,  with  spots  all  over  his  breast  and 


THE  THRUSH  FAMILY  7 

shoulders.  He  spends  most  of  his  time  calling 
for  food,  for  he  is  always  hungry.  He  is  rather 
clumsy  in  getting  about,  and  often  falls  to  the 
ground.  But  if  you  pick  him  up  and  put  him 
on  a  low  branch  out  of  the  reach  of  cats,  he  will 
fly  as  soon  as  your  hand  leaves  him,  and  gener- 
ally come  to  the  ground  again.  So  it  is  of  no 
use  to  try  to  help  him  that  way.  The  only  thing 
you  can  do  is  to  keep  cats  and  bad  boys  away 
from  him,  until  he  flies  up  into  a  tree. 

The  robin  gets  his  food  on  the  ground,  or 
just  under  the  surface.  He  eats  many  caterpil- 
lars and  grubs  that  are  harmful  to  us.  One  that 
he  specially  likes  is  the  cutworm,  which  has  a 
bad  way  of  biting  off  young  plants.  In  the  East 
he  eats  many  earthworms,  which  we  see  him  pull 
out  of  the  ground  on  the  lawn,  but  in  the  West, 
where  there  are  not  so  many  earthworms,  he  picks 
up  insects  of  various  kinds. 

All  through  spring,  when  insects  are  hard  at 
work  destroying  our  fruit  and  vegetables  and 
young  grains,  the  robin  spends  almost  his  whole 
time  catching  them ;  first  for  his  own  eating,  but 
many  more  when  his  little  ones  get  out  of  the 
shell,  for  young  birds  eat  a  great  amount  of  food. 
Then,  when  he  has  spent  months  in  our  service 
killing  insects,  so  that  our  fruit  and  vegetables 
can  grow,  do  you  not  think  he  has  earned  part 
of  the  cherries  he  has  saved? 


8  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

Eobins  are  very  easily  made  tame,  and,  when 
well  treated  and  not  shut  up  in  a  cage,  they  be- 
come fond  of  people  and  like  to  live  in  our 
houses.  I  know  of  a  robin  who  was  picked  up 
from  the  ground  by  a  lady.  He  could  not  fly, 
and  she  took  him  into  a  house  and  brought  him 
up.  He  was  never  wild  or  afraid  of  people,  and 
he  never  wanted  to  be  free.  His  mistress  would 
sometimes  put  him  on  her  hat,  without  fastening 
him  in  any  way,  and  go  out  to  walk  with  him 
there.  He  liked  his  ride,  and  never  thought  of 
leaving  her.  She  often  took  him  with  her  into 
a  piece  of  woods  where  she  went.  He  would 
play  around  on  the  ground  and  in  the  trees,  but 
the  moment  she  started  for  home  he  flew  down, 
ready  to  go. 

She  thought  perhaps  he  would  like  to  be  free, 
and  she  tried  once  or  twice  to  leave  him  in  this 
pleasant  grove,  but  he  always  flew  to  her  and  re- 
fused to  be  left.  He  was  so  fond  of  his  mistress 
that  when  she  went  away  for  a  day  or  two  he 
was  very  unhappy,  hid  himself  in  a  closet,  and 
would  not  eat  till  she  came  back. 

This  robin,  too,  liked  the  food  of  the  family, 
and  did  not  care  for  earthworms.  In  fact,  he 
could  hardly  be  coaxed  to  eat  one  of  them, 
though  he  liked  some  kinds  of  grubs  which  he 
found  on  the  ground.  But  he  ate  them  in  a  dif- 


THE  THRUSH  FAMILY  9 

ferent  way  from  his  wild  brothers.  He  did  not 
swallow  them  whole,  but  beat  them  to  a  jelly 
before  trying  to  eat. 

This  pet  had  a  sweet,  low  song  of  his  own. 
He  never  sang  like  his  wild  brothers  until  his 
second  year,  when  he  had  been  out  and  heard 
them  sing. 

A  pair  of  robins  that  were  blown  from  a  nest 
in  a  high  wind  were  reared  and  kept  in  a  large 
cage  by  Mrs.  Grinnell  in  California.  The  first 
year  the  singer  did  not  sing,  but  in  the  second 
year  a  wild  mockingbird  came  to  teach  him.  He 
would  alight  on  the  cage,  which  hung  out  of 
doors,  and  sing  softly  a  long  time,  till  the  robin 
began  to  do  the  same.  When  he  could  sing,  it 
was  more  like  a  mockingbird  than  like  a  robin. 
The  mocker  was  very  fond  of  his  pupil,  and  used 
to  bring  him  berries  and  other  wild  dainties. 

These  robins  made  a  nest  of  things  the  mis- 
tress gave  them,  and  eggs  began  to  appear  in  it. 
But  as  soon  as  one  was  laid,  one  of  the  birds 
would  jump  into  the  nest  and  kick  and  scratch 
till  it  was  thrown  out  and  broken.  They  seemed 
to  think  the  pretty  blue  eggs  were  playthings. 
When  the  weather  grew  hot,  Bobby,  the  singer, 
showed  his  sense  by  spending  most  of  his  time 
lying  in  his  bathing-dish,  covered  with  water 
up  to  his  ears.  He  would  lie  there  an  hour 


It)  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

at  a  time,  too  comfortable  to  get  out  even  to 
eat. 

Birds  who  are  not  brought  into  the  house 
often  become  tame  when  well  treated.  One 
family  in  Michigan  had  a  pair  of  robins  who 
nested  close  to  the  house  for  fourteen  years. 
It  was  plain  that  the  birds  were  the  same  pair, 
for  they  became  so  friendly  that  they  let  any  of 
the  family  pick  up  a  nestling,  and  showed  no 
fear.  But  with  other  people  they  were  as  wild 
as  any  robins. 

One  day  a  man  passing  by  picked  up  one  of 
the  young  birds,  who  was  scrambling  about  on 
the  ground.  At  once  the  parents  began  loud 
cries  of  distress,  and  all  the  robins  in  the  neigh- 
borhood came  to  help.  They  scolded  and  cried, 
and  flew  at  the  thief  who  wanted  to  carry  off 
the  baby.  One  of  the  family  heard  the  row, 
and  went  out  and  claimed  the  robin,  and  the 
man  gave  it  up.  The  moment  the  little  one  was 
in  the  hands  of  a  person  they  knew,  the  cries 
ceased.  Not  only  the  parents  but  the  neigh- 
bors seemed  to  understand  that  the  nestling  was 
safe. 

The  way  birds  act  when  brought  up  by  us  and 
not  by  their  parents  shows  that  young  birds  are 
taught  many  things  before  they  are  grown  up. 
When  living  in  a  house,  they  are  not  afraid  of 


HERMIT   THRUSH 


THE  THRUSH  FAMILY  11 

cats  or  people,  as  wild  ones  are.  They  do  not 
usually  sing  the  robin  song,  nor  care  for  the 
robin  food,  and  they  do  not  seem  to  know  how 
to  manage  a  nest.  I  could  tell  you  many  things 
to  prove  this. 

Another  charming  member  of  the  Thrush 
Family  is  the  HERMIT  THRUSH.  He  is  a  beauti- 
ful bird,  smaller  than  the  robin.  He  is  reddish 
brown  on  the  back,  with  a  white  breast  spotted 
with  dark  brown  or  black.  He  has  large,  full, 
dark  eyes,  which  look  straight  at  you. 

The  hermit  thrush  spends  his  winters  in  the 
Southern  States,  and  his  summers  in  the  North- 
ern. But  in  the  far  West,  where  are  no  cold 
winters,  the  hermit  does  not  have  to  move  back 
and  forth.  In  that  part  of  the  country  the  bird 
is  the  Western  Hermit  Thrush. 

This  bird  is  one  of  our  finest  singers,  and  a 
very  shy  bird.  His  home  is  in  the  woods,  and 
from  there  we  hear  his  loud,  clear  song,  morning 
and  evening.  Many  people  think  his  song  is  the 
finest  bird-song  we  have.  His  ordinary  call  as 
he  goes  about  is  a  kind  of  "  chuck."  The  West- 
ern hermit  differs  hardly  at  all.  He  may  be  a 
little  smaller,  but  he  is  the  same  delightful  singer 
and  lovely  character. 

The  mother  hermit  makes  her  nest  on  the 


12  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

ground,  and  hides  it  so  well  that  it  is  hard  to 
find,  —  though  I  'm  afraid  snakes,  and  squirrels, 
and  other  woods  creatures  who  like  eggs  to  eat 
find  it  more  often  than  we  do. 

Shy  as  the  hermit  is,  he  is  an  intelligent  bird, 
A  mother  hermit  a  few  years  ago  strayed  into 
the  grounds  of  a  gentleman  in  Massachusetts 
and  built  a  nest  under  a  pine-tree.  When  she 
was  found,  she  was  at  first  very  much  frightened. 
But  the  owner  of  the  place  was  a  bird-lover,  and 
gentle  and  quiet  in  his  ways,  and  she  got  so  used 
to  him  that  she  let  him  photograph  her  many 
times. 

A  gentleman,  Mr.  Owen,  once  captured  a 
young  hermit  thrush  so  lately  out  of  the  nest 
that  he  could  not  fly  much.  He  kept  him  in  the 
house  several  weeks,  and  found  out  many  inter- 
esting things  about  young  thrushes.  One  thing 
he  discovered  was  that  the  bird  has  his  own 
notions  about  food.  He  ate  raw  meat  and  earth- 
worms. But  when  worms  were  fed  to  him  that 
came  from  a  dirty  place,  he  threw  them  out  of 
his  mouth,  wiped  his  beak,  and  showed  great 
disgust.  The  worms  brought  from  clean  garden 
earth  he  ate  greedily. 

The  little  captive  had  his  own  way  of  eating 
a  worm.  He  began  by  worrying  it  awhile,  and 
then  swallowed  it  tail  first. 


THE  THRUSH  FAMILY  13 

He  showed  his  instinct  for  sleeping  high  by 
being  very  restless  at  night,  till  let  out  of  his 
cage.  Then  he  flew  to  the  highest  perch  he 
could  find  in  the  room,  and  roosted  for  the 
night. 

o 

The  bird  showed  himself  friendly  and  not  at 
all  afraid  of  people.  Mr.  Owen  got  so  attached 
to  him  that  when  he  let  him  go  in  the  woods  he 
felt  as  if  he  had  parted  with  a  dear  friend. 

In  the  picture  you  see  two  hermit  thrushes. 
The  upper  one  is  singing,  and  the  lower  one 
looking  calmly  at  you,  in  the  way  of  these  beau* 
tif  ul  birds. 


m 

THE   KINGLET   AND   GNATCATCHEB   FAMILY 

(Sylviidce) l 

THIS  family  is  small  in  our  country.  There 
are  only  three  members  of  it  that  we  are  likely 
to  see.  But  they  are  most  dainty  and  lovely 
birds.  They  are  the  two  kinglets  or  little  kings, 
not  much  bigger  than  hummingbirds,  and  the 
blue-gray  gnateatcher,  about  as  small.  They  are 
all  fond  of  living  in  the  tops  of  tall  trees,  and 
they  generally  get  their  food  and  make  their 
pretty  nests  away  out  of  our  reach.  So  we 
have  to  look  sharp  to  see  them.  It  is  easier  to 
hear  them,  for  they  are  fine  singers. 

The  RUBY-CROWNED  KINGLET  is  a  plump  little 
bird  in  olive-green  feathers.  Below  he  is  yellow- 
ish white,  and  he  has  two  whitish  wing  bars. 
On  top  of  his  head  is  a  narrow  stripe  of  bright 
ruby  color.  But  we  see  him  usually  from  below, 
so  that  is  not  often  noticed.  He  flits  about  the 

i  See  Appendix,  2. 


RUBY-CROWNED   KINGLET 


THE  KINGLET  AND  GNATCATCHER  FAMILY    15 

upper  branches,  picking  out  the  smallest  insects 
and  insect  eggs,  and  eating  them.  So  he  is  very 
useful  to  us. 

Although  this  bird  is  found  all  over  our  coun- 
try, he  does  not  nest  with  us,  except  sometimes 
in  the  mountains.  He  goes  farther  north,  be- 
yond the  United  States.  The  nests  that  have 
been  found  in  the  mountains  of  Colorado  and 
Montana  were  partly  hanging,  and  very  large 
for  such  a  tiny  bird.  They  were  made  of  soft, 
fine  bark  strips,  and  green  moss,  and  hung  to 
the  end  of  a  spruce  or  pine  branch. 

But  the  ruby-crown  passes  his  winters  in  the 
Southern  States  and  Mexico,  and  when  he  starts 
for  his  nesting-home,  he  begins  to  sing.  As  he 
goes  north,  he  stops  a  few  days  or  a  week  in  a 
place,  and  then  is  the  time  to  hear  his  sweet 
voice.  When  he  sings,  you  would  hardly  know 
him.  He  raises  the  red  feathers  on  top  of  his 
head  so  that  they  stand  up  like  a  crown,  and 
change  his  looks  very  much.  In  the  picture  you 
can  see  a  little  of  the  ruby  stripe. 

Not  much  is  known  of  the  habits  of  these 
little  birds,  they  are  so  hard  to  study.  They  are 
found  all  over  the  United  States,  in  the  South- 
ern States  and  California  in  winter,  and  in  the 
Northern  States  in  spring  and  fall,  when  migrat- 
ing. 


16  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

The  BLUE-GRAY  GNATCATCHER  is  a  slim  little 
bird,  with  a  rather  long  tail.  He  is  bluish  gray, 
with  some  white  and  black  on  head,  wings,  and 
tail,  and  he  is  grayish  white  below. 

He  has  a  sweet  song,  but  it  is  so  low  you  have 
to  be  very  near  and  very  quiet  to  hear  it.  He 
is  such  a  talkative,  restless  fellow,  however,  that 
you  often  see  him  when  you  might  not  hear  the 
song. 

The  gnatcatcher  is  one  of  the  most  lively  of 
birds.  He  bustles  about  in  an  eager  way  that 
shows  everybody  where  to  look  for  the  nest. 
And  when  there  is  no  nest,  he  flits  over  the  tree- 
tops,  catching  tiny  flying  insects,  and  uttering  a 
queer  call  that  sounds  something  like  the  mew 
of  a  cat.  He  does  not  need  to  be  so  quiet  as 
birds  who  build  on  the  ground  or  near  it,  be- 
cause few  can  get  at  the  nest.  It  is  too  high 
for  snakes  and  boys,  and  on  branches  too  light 
for  squirrels  or  big  birds.  So  he  can  afford  to 
be  as  chatty  as  he  pleases. 

The  nest  of  this  bird  is  one  of  the  prettiest 
that  is  made.  It  is  a  little  cup,  upright  on  a 
branch,  usually  near  the  end  so  that  it  is  tossed 
by  the  wind.  Miss  Merriam  found  a  pair  of 
gnatcatchers  in  California,  and  watched  then: 
through  many  troubles.  Their  way  of  building 
was  by  felting.  That  is,  they  took  fine,  soft 


THE  KINGLET  AND  GNATCATCHER  FAMILY    17 

materials  like  plant  down,  and  packed  it  all 
closely  together  by  poking  with  the  beak  and 
prodding  it  with  the  feet. 

A  gnatcatcher's  nest  is  large  for  the  size  of 
the  bird.  It  must  be  deep  for  safety,  so  that 
eggs  and  nestlings  will  not  be  thrown  out  by  the 
wind.  Three  times,  Miss  Merriam  thinks,  the 
little  family  she  watched  had  to  build  their  nest. 
Each  time  it  took  more  than  ten  days  of  hard 
work. 

This  pretty  little  fellow  has  a  long  tail,  and 
he  keeps  it  in  motion  all  the  time.  He  jerks  it 
up  or  down,  or  twitches  it  to  one  side  or  the 
other ;  or  he  flirts  it  open  and  shut  like  a  fan, 
which  shows  the  white  edges  and  looks  very 

gay- 
Dogs  and  cats,  as  you  know,  show  how  they 

feel  by  the  way  they  move  the  tail.  Birds  do 
the  same,  some  much  more  than  others.  If  you 
watch  the  way  in  which  they  move  their  tails, 
you  can  learn  to  tell  how  a  bird  feels  almost  as 
well  as  if  he  could  speak  to  you. 


IV 

THE   NUTHATCH   AND    CHICKADEE    FAMILY 

(Paridce)  1 

THIS  is  another  family  of  small  birds.  The 
nuthatches  are  lively,  restless  little  creatures. 
You  generally  see  them  scrambling  over  the 
trunks  of  trees,  head  up  or  head  down,  as  it  hap- 
pens. They  are  dressed  in  sober  colors,  and 
spend  their  lives  picking  tiny  insects  out  of  the 
crevices  of  the  bark. 

The  WHITE-BREASTED  NUTHATCH  is  the  best 
known  in  the  East.  In  California  the  slender- 
billed  takes  his  place,  being  about  the  same  in 
dress  and  manners.  Both  of  them,  East  and 
West,  go  about  calling  "  quank,  quank."  The 
dress  is  slate-blue  and  white,  with  a  white  breast, 
a  black  cap,  and  black  on  wings  and  tail. 

Nuthatches  nest  in  holes,  either  deserted  wood- 
jecker  nests  or  natural  holes  in  trees.  If  such 
ii  place  is  not  to  be  found,  the  pair  will  some- 

1  See  Appendix,  3. 


THE  NUTHATCH  AND  CHICKADEE  FAMILY    19 

times  dig  out  a  home  in  a  decayed  stump  for 
themselves. 

It  is  wonderful  to  see  how  easily  and  quickly 
a  nuthatch  will  run  over  the  trunk  and  large 
branches  of  a  tree.  Woodpeckers  usually  go 
upward,  and  brace  themselves  with  their  stiff 
tails.  If  they  want  to  go  down,  they  back  down 
rather  awkwardly.  Creepers,  who  also  go  over 
tree  trunks,  go  up  only,  and  they  also  use  their 
stiff  tails  for  a  brace.  But  the  nuthatch  goes 
head  up,  or  down,  or  sideways,  and  never  uses 
the  short,  square  tail  in  the  business.  He  can 
do  this  because  his  claws  are  very  curving,  al- 
most like  hooks,  and  they  grasp  tight  hold  of 
the  little  rough  places  in  the  bark. 

It  is  a  funny  sight  to  see  a  mother  nuthatch 
going  about  with  four  or  five  hungry  little  ones 
after  her,  like  chickens  after  a  hen,  all  calling 
their  droll  little  "  quanks." 

The  nuthatch  gets  his  name,  it  is  said,  from 
the  habit  of  fixing  a  nut  into  a  crack  and  ham- 
mering or  "  hacking  "  it  till  it  breaks.  In  sum- 
mer, when  insects  are  to  be  had,  this  bird,  like 
many  others,  eats  nothing  else,  and  he  eats 
thousands  of  them.  But  he  can  live  on  other 
food,  so  he  is  not  forced  to  migrate. 

To  provide  for  winter,  when  insects  will  be 
gone  and  snow  cover  the  seeds,  he  lays  up  a 


20  THE  SECOND  BOOK   OF  BIRDS 

store  of  food.  He  takes  kernels  of  corn,  if  he 
can  get  them,  or  sunflower  seeds,  or  nuts  of 
various  kinds.  This  keeps  him  very  busy  all  the 
fall,  and  he  has  often  been  seen  at  the  work. 
He  will  carry  a  nut  to  a  tree  and  find  a  crack  in 
the  bark  just  big  enough  to  hold  it.  He  tries 
one  after  another  till  he  finds  one  to  fit.  Then 
he  hammers  it  in  till  it  is  secure,  and  leaves  it 
there.  Then  in  winter  the  same  bird  has  been 
seen,  when  everything  was  covered  with  snow, 
to  dig  the  hidden  nuts  out  of  their  hiding-places 
and  eat  them. 

Many  birds  who  do  not  migrate,  but  live  in  the 
same  place  the  year  round,  provide  for  winter  in 
the  same  way.  So  do  squirrels  and  other  ani- 
mals. It  is  pleasant  to  think  that  rough-barked 
trees,  and  knotholes,  and  hollows,  are  filled  with 
food  for  the  hungry  birds.  And  if  they  had 
not  that  supply,  they  might  starve,  or  be  obliged 
to  leave  us. 

The  KED-BREASTED  NUTHATCH  is  a  little 
smaller  than  the  white-breasted,  and  has  a  red- 
dish breast.  His  home  is  more  toward  the  north, 
both  East  and  West.  He  nests  in  Maine  and 
other  Northern  States.  His  call  note  is  different 
too.  It  sounds  like  the  squawk  of  a  toy  trumpet. 
His  habits  are  much  like  those  of  his  bigger 
relative. 


THE  NUTHATCH   AND  CHICKADEE  FAMILY    21 

The  nuthatch  is  fond  of  his  mate,  and  takes 
good  care  of  her  in  nesting  time.  He  feeds  her 
and  the  young  till  they  leave  the  nest. 

Mr.  Fowler  tells  a  story  of  an  English  nut- 
hatch who  is  almost  the  same  as  one  of  ours. 
Some  bird-lovers  were  in  the  habit  of  putting 
nuts  on  a  window-sill  for  these  birds  to  carry 
away.  One  day,  to  see  what  they  would  do, 
somebody  put  one  in  a  glass  tumbler.  The  birds 
saw  the  nut  and  tried  to  get  it  through  the  glass, 
pecking  and  hammering  at  it  a  long  time. 
Finally,  one  got  tired  or  discouraged  and  flew 
up  to  a  perch  over  the  tumbler.  Then  he  hap- 
pened to  look  down,  and  saw  the  nut  inside  the 
glass.  Instantly  he  came  down.  He  alighted 
on  the  edge  of  the  tumbler  and  held  on  tightly, 
while  he  leaned  far  over  inside,  almost  standing 
on  his  head,  till  he  picked  up  the  nut  and  carried 
it  off. 

These  birds  are  easily  made  tame  in  winter 
by  feeding  them  every  day  when  food  is  hard  to 
get ;  and  at  a  time  when  they  are  forced  to  live 
on  seeds  and  nuts,  they  greatly  enjoy  scraps  of 
meat,  and  most  of  all,  suet.  Many  people  put 
out  food  for  the  birds  every  day  in  winter,  in 
some  safe  place  where  cats  cannot  come.  They 
have  great  pleasure  in  watching  their  little 
guests. 


22  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

Chickadees,  or  Titmice,  as  they  are  named  in 
the  books,  belong  to  another  branch  of  this  Fam- 
ily. There  are  a  good  many  titmice  in  the  world, 
seventy-five  kinds  or  species,  but  we  in  America 
have  only  thirteen.  Best  known  in  the  Eastern 
and  Middle  States  is  the  common  chickadee.  In 
California,  the  mountain  chickadee  has  habits 
about  the  same,  and  the  Southern  States  have 
the  tufted  titmouse. 

All  these  little  fellows  are  pretty  birds  in  gray, 
set  off  with  black  and  white,  with  lovely  soft  and 
fluffy  plumage. 

The  common  CHICKADEE  and  his  brother  of 
the  West  have  black  on  top  of  the  head  and 
on  the  throat,  and  white  at  the  side  of  the  head. 
They  nest  in  holes  in  a  tree  or  stump.  If  they 
can  find  the  old  home  of  a  woodpecker,  they  are 
glad  to  get  it,  but  if  they  cannot  find  one,  they 
are  able  to  cut  one  out  for  themselves,  though  it 
is  a  hard,  long  job  for  them. 

These  birds  have  very  large  families,  sometimes 
as  many  as  eight  or  nine  little  chickadees  in  one 
of  those  dark  nurseries.  How  so  many  can  live 
there  it  is  hard  to  see.  They  must  be  all  in  a 
heap. 

Everybody  knows  the  common  call  of  the 
chickadee,  —  "  chick-a-dee-dee  ;  "  but  he  has  a 


BLACK-CAPPED  CHICKADEES 


THE  NUTHATCH  AND  CHICKADEE  FAMILY    23 

song,  too.  It  is  slow,  sad-sounding,  and  of  two 
notes,  almost  like  the  common  cry  of  the  phcebe. 
But  you  must  not  think  they  have  no  more  than 
these  few  notes.  They  have  odd  little  songs, 
and  they  make  queer  sounds  that  seem  much  like 
talking.  Almost  all  birds  have  many  notes  and 
calls  and  little  chatty  noises  of  different  sorts, 
besides  their  regular  song  and  the  common  call 
note.  To  hear  these,  and  learn  to  know  a  bird 
whatever  he  says,  is  one  of  the  delights  of  bird 
study.  I  hope  you  will  some  day  enjoy  it.  The 
Chippewa  Indians  named  the  chickadee  "  kitch- 
kitch-ga-ne-shi." 

A  chickadee  is  a  friendly  little  fellow.  Many 
times  one  has  come  down  on  to  a  man's  hand 
or  knee.  Mr.  Torrey  once  found  a  pair  making 
their  nest,  and  he  climbed  up  on  to  a  branch  of 
the  tree,  close  by  where  they  were  working,  so  as 
to  watch  them.  Many  birds  would  have  been 
frightened  to  have  a  man  so  near,  but  not  the 
brave  little  chickadees.  They  stared  at  him  a 
little,  but  went  right  on  with  their  building. 

These  birds,  though  so  tiny,  are  among  the 
most  useful  to  us,  because  they  spy  out  and  de- 
stroy the  insect  eggs  hidden  in  crevices  of  bark, 
or  under  leaves.  Bigger  birds  might  not  care  to 
pick  up  such  small  things,  or  their  beaks  might 
be  too  clumsy  to  get  at  them. 


24  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

When  you  see  a  chickadee  scrambling  over  a 
tree,  hanging  head  down  with  all  sorts  of  antics, 
he  is  no  doubt  hunting  out  the  eggs.  These 
eggs,  if  left,  would  hatch  out  into  hungry  in- 
sects, to  eat  the  leaves  or  fruit,  or  to  injure  and 
perhaps  kill  the  tree.  The  nuthatch  clears  up 
the  trunk  and  large  limbs,  and  the  chickadee 
does  the  same  for  the  small  branches  and  around 
the  leaves. 

It  has  been  found  out  that  one  pair  of  chicka- 
dees with  their  young  will  destroy  five  hundred 
pests,  such  as  caterpillars,  flies,  and  grubs,  every 
day.  No  man  could  do  so  much,  if  he  gave  his 
whole  time  to  it.  Besides,  he  could  not  go  over 
the  whole  tree  as  a  bird  does,  without  doing  harm 
to  it.  A  chickadee  hops  along  the  small  branches 
and  twigs,  looking  under  every  leaf,  sometimes 
hanging  head  down  to  see  the  under  side,  and 
picks  up  every  insect  or  egg.  Among  his  dain- 
ties are  the  eggs  of  the  leaf-rolling  caterpillar, 
the  canker-worm,  and  the  apple-tree  moth,  —  all 
very  troublesome  creatures. 

The  TUFTED  TITMOUSE  is  more  common  in  the 
South  and  West  than  his  cousin,  the  chickadee, 
and  he  is  one  of  the  prettiest  of  the  family.  He 
is  dressed  in  soft  gray,  with  a  fine,  showy,  pointed 
crest.  His  ways  are  something  like  the  chicka- 


THE  NUTHATCH  AND  CHICKADEE  FAMILY    25 

dee's,  but  he  is,  perhaps,  even  bolder  and  more 
pert,  and  he  is  easily  tamed.  All  his  notes  are 
loud  and  clear,  and  he  is  never  for  a  moment 
still. 

In  winter,  this  bird  is  found  in  little  flocks  of 
a  dozen  or  more.  These  are  probably  all  of  one 
family,  the  parents  and  their  two  broods  of  the 
year.  He  is  one  of  the  birds  who  stores  up  food 
for  a  time  when  food  is  scarce.  In  summer,  he 
eats  only  insects. 

The  tufted  titmouse,  like  others  of  his  race, 
has  a  great  deal  of  curiosity.  I  have  heard  of 
one  who  came  into  a  house  through  an  open  win- 
dow. It  was  a  female  titmouse  in  search  of  a 
good  place  for  a  nest.  After  she  had  been  in 
all  the  rooms,  and  helped  herself  to  whatever  she 
found  that  was  good  to  eat,  she  seemed  to  de- 
cide that  it  was  a  land  of  plenty  and  she  would 
stay. 

The  stranger  settled  upon  a  hanging  basket  as 
nice  to  build  in.  The  family  did  not  disturb  her, 
and  she  brought  in  her  materials  and  made  her 
nest.  She  had  even  laid  two  or  three  eggs,  when 
the  people  began  to  take  too  much  interest  in  her 
affairs,  and  the  bird  thought  it  best  to  move  to 
a  safer  place. 

Another  of  these  birds  in  Ohio,  looking  about 
for  something  nice  and  soft  to  line  her  nest, 


26  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

pitched  upon  a  gentleman's  hair.  Unfortunately, 
he  had  need  of  the  hair  himself ;  but  the  saucy 
little  titmouse  did  n't  mind  that.  She  alighted 
on  his  head,  seized  a  beakful,  and  then  bracing 
herself  on  her  stout  little  legs,  she  actually  jerked 
out  the  lock,  and  flew  away  with  it.  So  well  did 
she  like  it  that  she  came  back  for  more.  The 
gentleman  was  a  bird-lover,  and  was  pleased  to 
give  some  of  his  hair  to  such  a  brave  little  crea- 
ture. 


THE    CREEPEB    FAMILY 

(Certhiidce)1 

THIS  is  a  family  of  birds  who  creep ;  that  is5 
they  appear  not  to  hop  up  a  tree  trunk  like  a 
woodpecker,  or  walk  up  like  a  nuthatch,  but 
they  hug  close  to  the  bark  with  claws  and  tail, 
and  seem  really  to  creep. 

The  one  member  of  the  family  in  this  country 
is  called  the  BROWN  CREEPER.  He  is  a  little 
fellow  in  streaks  and  stripes  of  brown,  and  he 
looks  so  much  like  the  tree  trunks  that  one  can 
hardly  see  him.  He  has  a  slender,  curved  bill, 
just  the  thing  to  poke  into  cracks  in  the  bark, 
and  pull  out  the  insects  and  eggs  hidden  there. 
His  tail  feathers  are  curious.  They  have  sharp 
points  on  the  ends,  so  that  he  can  press  them 
against  the  bark,  and  help  support  himself. 

The  creeper's  way  of  getting  up  a  trunk  is  to 
begin  near  the  ground,  and  go  round  and  round 

1  See  Appendix,  4. 


28  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

the  trunk  till  he  reaches  the  lowest  hranch. 
Then  he  flings  himself  off,  and  flies  to  the  roots 
of  another  tree,  and  goes  up  that  in  the  same 
way.  A  brown  creeper  once  came  into  a  house, 
and  found  it"  so  comfortable,  and  food  so  plenti- 
ful, and  people  so  kind,  that  he  stayed.  He  was 
very  tame,  and  his  great  pleasure  was  to  climb 
up  a  man's  leg  or  a  woman's  skirt,  exactly  as  he 
climbs  a  tree  trunk,  going  round  and  round. 

Quiet  and  demure  as  he  looks,  this  little  bird 
sometimes  plays  rather  funny  pranks.  He  has 
been  seen  to  whirl  around  like  a  top,  and  again 
to  fly  up  and  down  close  to  a  tree  trunk,  appar- 
ently just  for  fun.  He  has  a  sweet  little  song, 
which  we  do  not  often  hear,  for  his  voice  is  not 
strong. 

The  brown  creeper  mother  takes  a  droll  place 
for  a  nest.  It  is  behind  the  loose  bark  of  an  old 
tree.  She  makes  a  snug  little  home  under  the 
bark  roof,  and  lines  it  with  feathers,  and  then 
she  brings  up  her  three  or  four  little  creepers. 
She  is  as  well  protected  from  sun  and  rain  as  if 
she  had  an  umbrella,  and  it  is  such  an  odd  place 
that  it  was  not  for  a  long  time  known  where  her 
cunning  little  nest  was  made. 

This  bird  nests  in  the  Eastern  States,  in 
northern  New  York  and  New  England,  and  in 
California  he  nests  in  the  mountains,  but  he  goes 


BROWN  CREEPER 


THE  CREEPER  FAMILY  29 

South  in  winter.  When  he  wants  to  hide,  he 
makes  use  of  a  clever  trick,  which  shows  that  he 
knows  how  much  he  looks  like  the  trunk  of  a 
tree.  He  simply  flattens  himself  against  the 
bark,  and  keeps  perfectly  still.  Then  you  can 
hardly  see  him,  though  you  look  right  at  hinio 
You  can  see  in  the  picture  how  he  looks. 


VI 


THE   CAVE-DWELLING   FAMILY 

(Troglodytidce)  x 
FIRST  BRANCH 

THIS  is  a  family  of  singers,  who  dress  in  plain 
colors.  There  is  not  a  red  or  blue  stripe,  and 
not  a  yellow  or  purple  feather,  among  them. 

The  family  has  two  branches,  or  subfamilies 
as  the  books  call  them.  The  first  branch, 
which  gives  the  name  to  the  family,  is  made  of 
birds  who  are  really  a  sort  of  cave-dwellers,  — 
the  wrens. 

Wrens  are  lively  little  birds,  excitable  and 
afraid  of  nothing.  They  are  in  plain  browns, 
barred  off  with  another  shade  of  the  same  color. 
They  are  so  near  the  color  of  the  ground,  where 
they  spend  most  of  their  time,  that  they  are  not 
easily  seen.  They  have  a  way  of  holding  their 
tails  up,  some  of  them  much  more  than  others, 
by  which  one  may  know  a  wren  wherever  he 
sees  it. 

1  See  Appendix,  5. 


THE  CAVE-DWELLING  FAMILY  31 

The  most  common  one  of  the  family  is  the 
HOUSE  WREN.  He  is  found  all  over  the  Eastern 
States.  In  the  Western  States  the  same  bird, 
except  in  the  shade  of  his  coat,  is  called  the 
Western  House  Wren. 

The  house  wren  is  fond  of  a  snug  place  for  a 
nest.  If  a  wren  box  is  to  be  had,  he  will  take 
that ;  but  if  not,  he  will  seek  some  cozy  nook, 
which  he  will  furnish,  mostly  with  fine  twigs, 
and  then  wait  for  his  mate  to  appear. 

Sometimes  the  bird  takes  queer  places  to  live 
in.  I  once  found  a  wren  family  inside  a  hollow 
iron  hitching-post  in  a  city  street.  The  birds 
went  in  through  the  hole  for  the  hitching-strap. 
I  wondered  how  the  wrenlings  would  get  out 
through  the  long,  dark  passage.  Another  nest 
was  made  in  an  oriole's  hanging  cradle,  after  the 
young  orioles  had  flown.  It  was  filled  up  with 
sticks  to  make  it  suitable  for  baby  wrens.  One 
that  I  found  last  summer  was  in  a  hole  in  a  gate- 
post. 

The  place  is  usually  chosen  by  the  male,  who 
stuffs  it  full  of  fine  twigs,  and  then  sings  and 
calls  for  his  mate  to  come.  He  will  sing  hour 
after  hour  his  sweet  little  song,  stopping  every 
few  minutes  to  bring  another  stick  to  add  to  his 
store. 

The  wren  is  a  droll  fellow  about  one  thing,-— 


82  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

he  never  knows  when  he  has  enough  furniture 
for  his  house.  He  will  bring  twigs  and  stuff 
them  into  the  box  or  hole,  till  he  can't  get 
another  one  in.  Sometimes  even  till  his  mate 
can't  get  in  herself.  A  pair  began  to  build  in 
a  shed  room,  and  apparently  set  out  to  fill  the 
whole  room  with  twigs.  They  brought  in  so 
much  stuff  that  the  owner  had  to  stop  up  the  hole 
they  used  for  a  door  and  make  them  go  some- 
where else.  He  was  willing  to  share  the  room 
with  them,  but  he  could  n't  spare  the  whole. 

The  house  wren  is  a  plucky  little  feUow,  and 
as  he  likes  the  same  kind  of  places  the  English 
sparrow  wants,  they  often  quarrel  over  a  box  or 
a  nice  snug  hole.  Small  as  he  is,  the  wren  often 
succeeds  in  keeping  the  place  he  wants,  and 
driving  the  sparrow  away. 

English  sparrows  can  be  kept  out  of  wren 
houses  by  making  the  opening  too  small  for  the 
bigger  bird.  An  auger  hole  one  inch  in  diame- 
ter will  be  large  enough  for  wrens,  but  too  small 
for  sparrows.  A  sparrow  has  sometimes  been 
seen  trying  to  get  into  one  of  these  wren  boxes, 
and  very  droll  he  looks,  when  he  sticks  his  head 
in,  and  struggles  and  kicks  violently  to  push 
himself  in. 

I  found  a  pair  of  house  wrens  in  Colorado  one 
summer.  The  singer  spent  most  of  his  time 


THE  CAVE-DWELLING  FAMILY  33 

scrambling  about  a  pile  of  brush,  apparently  try- 
ing to  make  me  think  that  was  where  he  lived. 
But  I  was  sure  he  had  a  mate  and  a  nest  some- 
where else,  and  I  kept  watch  for  them. 

One  day  I  happened  to  see  a  little  brown  bird 
fly  up  under  the  eaves  of  a  summer  cottage  not 
much  bigger  than  a  tent.  On  looking  closely,  I 
found  that  there  were  openings  under  the  eaves. 
The  birds  had  taken  one  of  these  for  a  door, 
ind  built  a  nest  inside,  in  the  box  frame  over  a 
window.  After  that  I  looked  at  them  through 
another  window.  Everything  went  well  till  the 
wrenlings  left  the  nest  and  began  to  fly  around. 
Then  they  seemed  to  lose  their  wits,  or  not  to 
mind  their  parents.  They  flew  wildly  about  in 
the  cottage,  bumping  against  the  glass,  and  seem- 
ing not  able  to  find  the  door  to  get  out. 

I  had  not  the  key  to  open  the  big  door,  so  I 
could  not  help  them  in  their  trouble.  And  the 
old  birds  were  so  frantic  when  I  looked  in  at  the 
window,  while  they  were  trying  to  get  their 
family  out,  that  I  went  away  and  left  them.  In 
an  hour  or  two  I  went  back,  and  found  every- 
thing quiet,  and  the  wren  babies  all  out  on  the 
trees. 


VII 

THE   CAVE-DWELLING   FAMILY 
SECOND  BRANCH 

THE  second  branch  of  this  family  is  very  dif- 
ferent from  the  first ;  it  is  composed  of  mock- 
ingbirds, catbirds,  and  thrashers.  These  birds 
were  once  placed  with  the  thrushes,  and  by  hab- 
its and  manners  they  seem  to  belong  there. 
But,  as  I  told  you,  families  in  the  bird  world  are 
made  by  structure,  —  by  the  way  the  bird  is 
made.  These  birds  have  scales  on  the  leg,  and 
some  other  things  like  the  wrens,  so  now  they 
belong  to  the  cave-dwelling  family,  though  they 
never  dwell  in  caves.  They  live  in  shrubbery 
and  low  trees.  They  are  larger  than  any  wren, 
but  they  are  like  those  birds  in  being  good 
singers  and  dressed  in  plain  colors.  Wherever 
they  are  placed  in  the  books,  they  are  interesting 
and  delightful  birds  to  know. 

The  most  famous  of  this  branch  is  the  MOCK- 
INGBIRD, found  in  the  Southern  States  and  Cali- 


THE  CAVE-DWELLING  FAMILY  36 

fornia.  He  is  a  beautiful  and  graceful  fellow  in 
gray,  with  large  white  patches  in  his  wings. 

The  nest  of  the  mockingbird  is  a  rather  rough 
affair,  built  in  a  low  tree  or  a  bush.  One  that  I 
saw  was  in  a  tree  about  as  high  as  an  apple-tree. 
The  bird  gets  his  food  on  the  ground,  and  has  a 
curious  habit  of  lifting  his  wings  as  he  is  about 
to  attack  a  beetle. 

The  mockingbird  is  a  celebrated  singer.  Many 
persons  think  him  the  finest  in  America.  He 
is  especially  famous  for  repeating  the  notes  of 
other  birds;  but  he  can  imitate  other  sounds, 
such  as  a  policeman's  rattle,  a  postman's  whistle, 
and  almost  anything  else.  Sometimes  a  caged 
one  makes  mischief  by  this  accomplishment.  He 
has  no  need  to  borrow,  for  he  has  a  fine  song  of 
his  own. 

Besides  being  famous  in  this  way,  he  is  a  very 
knowing  bird,  and  a  most  interesting  one  to 
study.  The  young  mocker  is  a  spirited  fellow, 
who  can't  endure  to  stay  in  the  nest  till  his  wings 
are  strong  enough  to  bear  him.  He  usually  tries 
to  fly  too  soon,  and  so  comes  to  the  ground. 
Coming  to  the  ground  is  a  great  misfortune  to 
the  bird,  for  he  is  easily  caught  and  put  in  a 
cage. 

Being  fine  singers,  mockingbirds  are  often 
kept  in  cages.  In  the  late  summer,  the  bird 


36  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

stores  in  New  York  have  hundreds  of  them  for 
sale,  birds  so  young  that  they  still  wear  the 
speckled  bibs  of  baby-days.  Many  of  them  die, 
and  so  every  year  they  are  growing  more  rare. 

A  lady  wrote  me  the  story  of  a  young  mock- 
ingbird, whose  mother  saved  it  from  a  cage.  The 
little  fellow  was  just  out  of  the  nest,  and  could 
not  fly  far,  and  a  young  man  thought  he  would 
catch  him  and  take  him  to  his  sister ;  but  the 
mother  bird  wished  to  save  him  from  such  a 
fate. 

When  the  man  went  toward  the  youngster  on 
the  ground,  the  mother  flew  down,  seized  him, 
lifted  him  up,  and  flew  away  with  him.  She 
carried  him  a  little  way  and  then  let  go.  He 
flew  as  far  as  he  could,  but  soon  came  to  the 
ground  again.  Then  the  man  started  for  him. 
Again  the  anxious  mother  flew  down  and  lifted 
him  into  the  air,  and  again  he  flew  a  little  and  fell 
to  the  ground.  So  it  went  on  for  some  time,  till 
the  young  man  began  to  feel  ashamed  of  himself. 
Then  he  took  up  the  cage  and  went  away,  leav- 
ing the  little  one  to  his  mother's  care. 

The  mockingbird  is  one  of  our  most  knowing 

birds,  and  when  one  is  tamed  and  free  in  a  house, 

he  is  very  amusing.     He  is  as  full  of  fun  as  a 

catbird,  and  as  funny  to  watch.     A  true  story 

vas  told  in  one  of  the  papers,  of  a  captive  who 


CATBIRD 


THE  CAVE-DWELLING  FAMILY  37 

had  some  queer  tricks.  One  was  hunting  in  a 
workbox  for  a  paper  of  needles,  taking  it  down 
to  the  floor,  and  working  it  open,  then  suddenly 
giving  it  a  jerk  that  sent  the  needles  in  a  shower 
all  over  the  floor. 

This  bird  was  once  shut  up  in  a  room  alone, 
while  the  family  were  at  table.  He  did  not  like 
it,  for  he  wanted  to  be  with  them ;  so  he  amused 
himself  unwinding  all  the  spools  of  thread  in  the 
workbox.  He  took  one  end  of  the  thread  and 
carried  it  all  about  the  room,  around  everything 
and  over  everything  —  vases  on  the  shelf,  pic- 
tures on  the  wall,  chair-legs,  sofas,  and  lamps. 
Everything  in  the  room  was  tied  together,  so 
that  no  one  could  go  in  lest  something  should 
be  thrown  down.  The  naughty  bird  was  de- 
lighted with  his  mischief.  He  sat  there  singing 
at  the  top  of  his  voice.  The  only  way  the 
family  could  get  into  the  room  was  to  get  scis- 
sors and  cut  their  way  in.  They  found  empty 
spools  all  over  the  floor,  and  hundreds  of  yards 
of  thread  used. 

The  CATBIRD  is  dressed  in  plain  slate-color. 
He  is  a  near  relative  of  the  mockingbird,  and 
better  known  in  the  Eastern  States.  He  is  also 
a  fine  singer,  though  he  is  not  so  famous.  This 
is  partly  because  he  sings  usually  from  the  mid* 


38  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

die  of  a  thick  bush  and  so  is  not  seen,  and  partly 
because  he  does  not  sing  so  loud.  There  is  a 
great  charm  in  the  catbird's  song. 

The  catbird  is  a  charming  fellow  aside  from 
his  music.  He  is  as  knowing  as  the  mocking- 
bird, and  not  much  afraid  of  people.  He  will 
come  near  to  houses  to  nest,  and  if  not  fright- 
ened or  disturbed,  he  will  be  very  familiar. 

Like  many  other  birds,  the  catbird  is  kind  to 
others  in  trouble.  A  pair  had  a  nest  near  that 
of  a  pair  of  robins.  One  day  the  robins  disap- 
peared— killed,  no  doubt — and  the  young  in  the 
nest  began  to  cry.  When  one  of  the  catbirds 
came  with  food  for  its  own  nestlings,  the  robin 
babies  would  cry  to  be  fed  too.  Pretty  soon  the 
catbirds  began  to  feed  them.  And  at  night, 
when  bird  babies  need  to  be  covered  up  by  the 
warm  feather-bed  of  their  mother's  breast,  one 
of  the  friendly  catbirds  filled  her  place,  and 
kept  them  warm  all  night.  So  it  went  on  till 
both  families  were  grown  up  and  could  fly. 

One  writer  says :  "  All  day  long  the  catbird 
watches  over  the  fruit-trees,  and  kills  the  insects 
that  would  destroy  them  or  the  fruit.  Of  course 
he  takes  his  share,  especially  of  cherries,  but  for 
every  one  he  takes,  he  eats  thousands  of  insects. 
Where  there  are  no  small  birds,  there  will  be  no 
fruit."  Thirty  grasshoppers  have  been  found  in 


THE  CAVE-DWELLING  FAMILY  89 

one  small  catbird's  stomach  by  the  Department 
of  Agriculture. 

A  story  showing  how  much  the  catbird  knows 
and  understands  is  of  one  in  Iowa  who  had  a 
nest  in  some  vines  over  a  porch.  A  tornado  tore 
the  vines  so  as  to  uncover  the  nest,  and  the  lady 
of  the  house  feared  some  one  would  disturb  it. 
So  she  began  to  draw  the  vines  together  around  it 
to  hide  it.  While  she  was  doing  this,  one  of  the 
old  birds  came  and  began  to  shriek,  and  cry,  and 
fly  round  her  head,  threatening  to  dash  at  her  eyes. 
The  mate  came  too,  and  acted  in  the  same  way, 
supposing,  no  doubt,  that  she  was  doing  some 
harm  to  their  nest.  She  shielded  her  head  and 
finished  the  work,  and  went  into  the  house. 

The  next  morning  she  was  sitting  on  the  bal- 
cony the  other  side  of  the  house.  All  at  once 
a  catbird  flew  down  and  perched  on  the  railing 
within  six  feet  of  her,  which  no  catbird  had  ever 
done  before.  She  kept  still,  and  he  began  jerk- 
ing his  body  and  uttering  sweet  little  calls  and 
twitters,  turning  his  head  this  side  and  that,  with 
eyes  fixed  on  her.  He  acted  exactly  as  if  he  were 
talking  to  her,  and  after  a  while  he  broke  out 
with  a  song,  low  and  very  sweet.  She  sat  still, 
and  after  the  song  he  began  his  twittering  again, 
then  sang  once  more.  She  had  never  heard 
anything  so  beautiful,  and  she  was  sure  that  he 


40  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIfcDS 

was  trying  to  express  his  thanks  to  her,  and  his 
regrets  at  the  way  he  had  treated  her  the  day 
before.  At  least,  that  was  the  way  it  seemed  to 
her. 

A  catbird  is  as  full  of  fun  and  pranks  as  a 
mockingbird.  He  may  sometimes  be  seen  to  do 
what  looks  like  playing  jokes  on  others.  A  lady 
told  me  she  saw  a  catbird  drive  a  crow  nearly 
wild  by  mocking  his  "  caw."  He  cawed  as  well 
as  the  crow  himself,  and  the  crow  was  furious, 
dashing  down  at  his  small  tormentor,  and  in 
every  way  showing  anger  at  what  no  doubt 
seemed  a  great  insult. 

The  THRASHER,  or  BROWN  THRUSH,  is  also  of 
this  family.  He  is  reddish  brown  on  the  back, 
and  heavily  spotted  on  the  breast,  and  he  has  a 
long  tail  which  be  jerks  about  a  good  deal. 

He  is  known  all  over  the  Eastern  and  Southern 
States,  and  his  California  brother  is  almost  ex- 
actly like  him.  He  is  a  fine  singer,  and  has  been 
called  the  French  mockingbird.  Sometimes  it  is 
hard  to  tell  his  song  from  the  mockingbird's. 

The  thrasher's  nest  is  usually  made  in  a  bush, 
the  thickest  and  thorniest  that  can  bs  found, 
and  the  brave  little  parents  will  make  a  great 
fight  to  keep  their  nestlings  from  harm.  At 
one  time,  when  a  boy  went  to  carry  off  some 


THE  CAVE-DWELLING  FAMILY  4) 

young  thrashers,  the  old  birds  called  togethe! 
quite  an  army  of  birds  to  help  defend  them. 
There  were  at  least  fifty  birds  of  many  kinds, 
all  flying  around  his  head,  screaming  at  him 
and  trying  to  pick  at  his  eyes.  The  boy  was 
ashamed,  and  put  back  the  little  ones,  glad  to 
get  away  with  his  eyes  safe. 

A  Western  bird,  the  Arizona  thrasher,  builds 
a  nest  in  the  middle  of  a  cactus  so  full  of  sharp 
thorns  like  fine  needles  that  it  is  a  wonder  how 
the  birds  can  get  into  it.  They  pull  off  the 
thorns  to  make  a  passage,  but  the  nestlings  do 
sometimes  get  caught  and  die  there.  They  must, 
however,  be  safe  from  most  enemies.  One  pair 
that  Mr.  Palmer  tells  about  built  a  regular  hall- 
way of  sticks  six  or  eight  inches  long. 

All  the  birds  of  this  family  have  great  indi- 
viduality ;  that  is,  no  two  are  alike.  The  better 
you  know  birds,  the  more  you  will  see  that  they 
do  not  act,  or  sing,  or  even  look  exactly  alike. 
That  is  one  reason  why  they  are  so  interesting 
to  study. 


vm 

THE   DIPPER   FAMILY 

(Cinclidce)  l 

THERE  is  only  one  member  of  this  family  in 
the  United  States,  and  that  one  lives  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains  and  the  mountains  of  Califor- 
nia. It  is  the  AMERICAN  DIPPER,  or  WATER 
OUZEL. 

The  body  of  the  ouzel  is  about  as  big  as  a 
robin's,  but  looks  much  smaller,  because  his  very 
short  tail  gives  him  a  "  chunky "  look.  His 
wings  are  short  and  rounded,  and  his  plumage  is 
very  soft  and  so  thick  that  he  can  go  under 
water  without  getting  wet.  He  is  slate-color  all 
over,  a  little  paler  on  the  breast,  and  his  mate  is 
exactly  like  him,  but  the  young  ouzel  has  all 
the  under  feathers  tipped  with  white,  and  usually 
a  white  throat.  Both  old  and  young  have  shin- 
ing white  eyelids  which  show  very  plainly  among 
their  dark  feathers. 

The  dipper   is  a  water  lover.     The   nest  is 

1  See  Appendix,  6. 


AMERICAN    DIPPER 


THE  DIPPER  FAMILY  43 

placed  close  to  it,  generally  near  a  waterfall, 
sometimes  even  behind  a  waterfall,  where  he  has 
to  go  through  a  curtain  of  falling  water  to  reach 
it.  It  is  on  a  shelf  of  rock,  and  shaped  like  a 
little  hut,  with  a  hole  on  one  side  for  a  door.  It 
is  made  of  soft  green  moss,  which  is  kept  alive 
and  growing  by  constant  sprinkling.  Sometimes 
the  waterfall  itself  keeps  it  wet,  but  the  birds 
have  been  seen  to  sprinkle  it  themselves.  They 
do  it  by  diving  into  the  water,  then  going  to  the 
top  of  the  nest  and  shaking  themselves  vio- 
lently. 

This  bird  is  a  curious  fellow.  His  food  is  the 
small  insects  which  live  under  water,  and  he  is 
as  much  at  home  there  as  other  birds  are  in  the 
air.  He  can  walk  on  the  bottom  with  swift  run- 
ning water  over  his  head,  and  he  can  really  fly 
under  water,  using  his  wings  as  he  does  in  the 
air.  I  have  seen  him  do  it. 

The  water  ouzel  cares  nothing  for  the  cold. 
On  cold  mornings  when  all  other  birds  sit 
humped  up  with  feathers  puffed  out  over  their 
feet  to  keep  warm,  he  is  as  jolly  and  lively  as 
ever.  He  flies  about  in  the  snow,  dives  under 
the  ice,  and  comes  out  at  an  airhole,  and  sings 
as  if  it  were  summer  weather. 

Mr.  John  Muir,  who  knows  so  well  the  West- 
ern mountains  and  the  creatures  who  live  there, 


44  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

has  told  us  most  of  what  we  know  about  this 
bird.  He  says  the  ouzel  sings  all  winter,  and 
never  minds  the  weather;  also  that  he  never 
goes  far  from  the  stream.  If  he  flies  away,  he 
flies  close  over  the  brook,  and  follows  all  its 
windings  and  never  goes  "  across  lots." 

When  the  young  ouzel  is  out  of  the  nest  and 
wants  to  be  fed,  he  stands  on  a  rock  and  "  dips," 
that  is,  bends  his  knees  and  drops,  then  stands 
up  straight  again.  He  looks  very  droll. 

Dr.  Merriam  tells  a  story  which  shows  how 
fond  the  dipper  is  of  water,  especially  of  a 
sprinkle,  and  explains  why  he  always  chooses 
to  live  by  a  waterfall.  The  doctor  was  camping 
out  on  the  bank  of  a  stream  where  one  of  these 
birds  lived,  and  one  morning  he  threw  some 
water  out  of  a  cup.  Instantly  the  bird  flew  into 
the  little  shower  as  if  he  liked  it.  To  see  if  he 
really  wanted  to  get  into  the  water,  the  doctor 
threw  out  some  more.  Again  the  bird  flew  into 
it,  and  as  long  as  he  would  throw  out  water, 
the  ouzel  would  dash  in  for  his  sprinkle. 

Besides  showing  that  the  water  ouzel  likes 
water,  this  little  story  shows  another  thing, — 
that  birds  are  not  naturally  afraid  of  us.  On 
far-off  islands  where  men  have  seldom  been, 
birds  do  not  run  away  from  people.  They  have 
not  learned  to  fear  them.  They  will  come  up  to 


THE  DIPPER  FAMILY  45 

men,  perch  on  their  shoulders,  and  ride  with 
them  on  their  boats.  I  have  read  that  in  Nor- 
way, where  everybody  is  kind  to  birds,  they  are 
not  at  all  afraid.  They  will  come  into  a  barn  or 
a  house  when  the  weather  is  cold,  or  they  are 
hungry,  and  no  man  or  boy  thinks  of  frighten- 
ing or  hurting  them. 

Mr.  C.  Lloyd  Morgan  has  reared  many  birds 
by  hatching  the  eggs  in  an  incubator,  so  that 
they  cannot  be  taught  by  their  parents.  He 
says  that  the  birds  of  the  wildest  parents 
hatched  in  that  way  are  never  afraid  of  people 
who  move  quietly,  or  of  a  cat,  or  a  quiet  dog. 
Any  sudden  movement  startles  a  young  bird,  but 
they  are  as  much  afraid  of  a  dead  leaf  blown 
by  the  wind  as  they  are  of  a  hawk.  It  is  the 
suddenness  that  alarms  them.  Some  of  them 
stop  instantly  on  a  sudden  noise,  like  a  sneeze  or 
a  cough.  If  one  foot  happens  to  be  raised  to 
step,  they  will  hold  it  so,  and  if  the  head  is  one 
side,  it  will  stay  so,  exactly  as  if  they  were  all 
turned  to  stone. 


IX 

THE   WAGTAIL   FAMILY 

(Motacillidce)  * 

IT  does  not  seem  very  polite  to  call  a  family 
of  birds  wagtails,  just  because  they  have  the 
habit  of  jerking  their  tails  as  they  go  about. 
But  that  is  the  name  they  go  by  in  the  books, 
and  we  have  two  of  them  in  the  United  States. 
We  call  them  pipits  or  titlarks. 

The  best  known  is  SPRAGUE'S  PIPIT,  called 
the  Missouri  skylark,  or  sometimes  the  prairie 
skylark.  This  bird  gets  the  name  of  skylark 
because  he  sings  while  soaring  about  in  the  air 
far  over  our  heads.  He  could  not  sing  on  a 
tree  if  he  wanted  to,  for  he  lives  on  the  plains 
between  the  Mississippi  River  and  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  where  are  few  or  no  trees. 

The  pipits  live  on  the  ground,  and  walk  and 
run,  not  hop.  As  they  go,  they  bob  their  heads, 
and  jerk  their  tails.  They  are  a  little  larger 

1  See  Appendix,  7. 


SPRAGUE'S    PIPIT 


THE  WAGTAIL  FAMILY  47 

than  an  English  sparrow,  and  they  go  in  flocks, 
They  are  never  seen  in  the  woods,  but  in  open 
pastures  or  plains,  or  beside  a  road. 

Sprague's  Pipit  is  all  in  streaks  of  brown  and 
gray,  and  lighter  below.  He  has  a  large  foot, 
which  shows  that  he  lives  on  the  ground,  and 
a  very  long  claw  on  the  hind  toe. 

The  nest  of  the  pipit  is  made  by  hollowing 
out  a  little  place  in  the  ground  and  lining  it  with 
fine  grasses.  Though  on  the  ground,  it  is  one 
of  the  hardest  to  find,  because  it  is  lightly  cov- 
ered with  the  dry  grasses,  and  when  the  bird 
is  sitting,  she  matches  the  grasses  so  well  that 
one  can  hardly  see  her,  even  when  looking  right 
at  her. 

The  birds  eat  insects  and  weed  seeds,  and  go 
about  in  flocks.  Even  then  they  are  hard  to 
see,  because  when  they  are  startled  they  do  not 
flutter  or  fly,  but  crouch  or  squat  at  once,  and 
stay  perfectly  still. 

This  bird  is  noted,  as  I  said,  for  his  song.  It 
is  said  to  be  as  fine  as  that  of  the  English  sky- 
lark of  which  we  hear  so  much.  Perhaps  his 
way  of  singing  makes  it  still  more  interesting. 
He  starts  up  on  wing,  flies  a  little  one  way,  then 
the  other,  all  the  time  going  higher  and  higher. 
So  he  climbs  on  up,  up,  up,  in  a  zigzag  way,  till 
he  is  fairly  out  of  sight,  all  the  time  giving  a 


48  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

wonderfully  sweet  song.  It  is  not  very  loud, 
but  of  such  a  kind  that  it  is  heard  when  the  bird 
is  far  out  of  sight.  When  he  can  no  longer  be 
seen,  one  may  still  follow  him  with  a  good  field- 
glass.  He  will  sing  without  stopping  for  fifteen 
or  twenty  minutes. 

Then  suddenly  he  stops,  closes  his  wings,  and 
comes  head  first  towards  the  ground.  It  seems 
as  if  he  would  dash  his  brains  out  against  the 
earth,  but  just  before  he  touches,  he  opens  his 
wings  and  alights  like  a  feather,  almost  where 
he  started  from.  He  should  be  as  famous  as  the 
English  bird,  and  will  be,  no  doubt,  when  he  is 
better  known. 

One  of  the  things  which  make  bird-study  so 
interesting  to  us  is  that  there  is  so  much  to  be 
found  out  about  our  birds.  European  birds 
have  been  studied  much  longer,  but  we  have  still 
many  beautiful  ones  whose  manners  and  ways 
of  living  are  almost  unknown.  These  things  are 
left  for  you  young  folk  to  find  out  when  you  are 
grown  up. 


THE   WARBLER   FAMILY 

(Mniotiltidce)  l 

THE  gayest,  the  liveliest,  and  almost  the  small- 
est of  our  birds  are  the  warblers.  Some  of 
them  are  not  over  five  inches  long  from  the  tip 
of  the  beak  to  the  end  of  the  tail.  Almost  all 
wear  bright  colors,  and  the  pair  are  never  alike, 
while  the  youngsters  are  different  from  both. 

But  few  of  them  warble.  Then  why  are  they 
named  so  ?  Well,  I  have  n't  found  out ;  but  we 
must  call  them  warblers  because  that  is  their 
name  in  the  books.  Most  of  them  have  funny 
little  songs  of  a  few  notes,  which  they  jerk  out 
every  minute  as  they  scramble  about  on  the  trees. 

We  have  seventy  species  of  these  little  birds 
in  the  United  States,  and  every  one  is  working 
as  hard  as  he  can  from  morning  till  night,  for  our 
benefit.  For  every  one  eats  insects,  and  enor- 
mous numbers  of  them.  Some  scramble  over 
trees  and  pick  them  out  from  bud  and  blossom 

1  See  Appendix,  8. 


60  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

and  under  leaves,  others  go  over  the  bark,  and 
others  fly  out  like  flycatchers. 

Some  of  them  work  in  the  tops  of  tall  trees, 
others  work  in  the  orchards,  some  in  bushes,  and 
some  on  the  ground.  But  wherever  they  live, 
they  are  beautiful  to  look  at,  and  bewitching  to 
study. 

Though  they  are  little,  they  have  plenty  of 
spirit.  I  know  of  one  kept  in  a  room  with  sev- 
eral other  birds,  all  bigger  than  himself.  You 
might  think  he  would  be  treated  as  big  boys 
would  treat  a  little  one.  But  no,  indeed !  the 
tiny  fellow  made  himself  ruler  of  the  whole 
party.  He  took  the  biggest  bathing-dish,  the 
best  seed-cup,  and  the  most  desirable  perch,  and 
drove  away  any  big  bird  who  dared  to  claim 
either. 

The  YELLOW  WARBLER,  found  all  over  the 
country,  is  often  called  the  wild  canary,  for,  as 
you  see  him  fly,  he  appears  to  be  entirely  yellow, 
but  when  you  get  nearer,  you  will  see  that  on 
his  breast  are  fine  stripes  of  reddish  brown.  His 
mate  is  all  in  yellow-olive  color. 

They  are  very  sweet  little  creatures,  and  make 
one  of  the  prettiest  nests  in  America.  It  is 
usually  in  an  upright  fork  of  a  tree,  or  bush. 
It  is  made  of  fine  material,  among  the  rest  a 


THE  WARBLER  FAMILY  51 

good  deal  of  a  gray  silky  stuff  which  gives  it  a 
beautiful  look. 

This  bird  is  one  of  the  few  who  will  not  bring 
up  a  cowbird  baby.  When  the  tiny  mother  finds 
a  cowbird's  egg  in  her  nest,  she  builds  another 
story  on  top  of  the  nest,  leaving  the  egg  to  spoil. 
Sometimes  a  cowbird  finds  the  second  nest,  and 
then  the  warbler  adds  a  third  story.  Nests  have 
been  found  three  stories  high,  with  a  dried-up 
cowbird  egg  in  each  of  the  two  lower  stories. 

A  strange  thing  happened  once  to  a  pair  of 
yellow  warblers.  When  the  nest  was  done  and 
the  eggs  laid,  a  storm  threw  it  out  of  place,  and 
tipped  it  over  to  one  side,  so  that  the  little 
mother  did  not  dare  trust  it  for  a  cradle.  So  she 
built  another  nest  in  the  same  bush,  and  went  to 
sitting  on  that. 

One  day  a  bird-lover  chanced  to  see  the  two 
nests,  one  with  the  bird  sitting,  the  other  tipped 
partly  over  and  left  with  the  eggs  still  in  it. 
To  see  what  the  birds  would  do,  he  put  the 
fallen  nest  back  in  place,  and  made  it  firm,  and 
then  went  away.  The  little  pair  looked  at  the 
nest,  and  had  a  great  deal  of  chatter  over  it. 
It  was  their  own  nest  and  their  own  eggs,  but 
the  mother  could  not  sit  in  two  places. 

Finally,  the  singer  took  his  place  on  the  re- 
stored nest.  After  that  it  was  watched,  and  the 


52  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

two  birds  sat  on  the  two  nests  till  all  the  young 
were  hatched,  and  then  fed  and  reared  them. 
When  they  were  ready  to  fly,  the  happy  birds 
had  a  big  family  to  take  care  of. 

Besides  these  tiny  fellows  that  we  call  war- 
blers, there  are  four  bigger  birds  classed  with  the 
family,  who  do  not  look  or  act  like  warblers. 
They  are  the  golden-crowned  thrush  or  oven- 
bird,  the  water-thrush,  the  Louisiana  water- 
thrush,  and  the  yellow-breasted  chat. 

The  OVEN-BIKD  gets  his  name  from  the  nest, 
which  is  shaped  like  an  old-fashioned  oven.  It 
is  on  the  ground  in  the  woods,  often  on  the  side 
of  a  little  slope.  It  has  a  roof  over  it  covered 
with  sticks  and  leaves  like  the  ground  around  it, 
so  that  it  is  hard  to  see. 

If  you  were  to  see  this  bird  walking  about  on 
the  ground,  as  he  does,  you  would  think  him  a 
thrush.  He  is  something  the  same  color,  and  he 
has  a  speckled  breast  like  a  thrush.  His  mate  is 
dressed  in  the  same  way,  and  they  have  a  dull 
yellowish  stripe  over  the  crown. 

He  is  the  fellow  you  hear  in  the  woods,  calling 
"  Teacher  !  teacher  !  teacher ! "  He  is  found  all 
over  the  United  States  east  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. 


YELLOW-I5RL.- 


THE  WARBLER  FAMILY  53 

The  YELLOW-BREASTED  CHAT  is  perhaps  the 
drollest  bird  in  North  America.  He  is  a  beauti- 
ful bird,  nearly  as  large  as  an  oriole,  olive  green 
above  and  brilliant  yellow  below,  and  his  mate 
is  the  same.  He  is  found  all  over  the  country 
south  of  the  latitude  of  Massachusetts.  In  the 
West  and  California,  the  chat  is  a  little  more 
gray  in  color,  and  has  a  longer  tail.  He  is  called 
the  long-tailed  chat,  but  a  chat  is  the  same 
funny  fellow,  wherever  he  is  found. 

He  reminds  one  of  a  clown,  he  plays  so  many 
antics,  and  makes  such  queer  sounds,  hardly  in 
the  least  like  a  song.  He  will  whistle,  bark  like 
a  puppy,  mew  like  a  cat,  or  laugh  like  an  old 
man,  all  in  a  loud,  strange  voice. 

Besides  this,  the  chat  is  a  ventriloquist,  that 
is,  can  make  his  voice  appear  to  come  from  some 
place  far  off,  when  he  is  near,  and  so  fool  us. 
The  chat  has  a  way  of  flying  up  into  the  air  with 
wings  fluttering  and  legs  dangling  as  if  they 
were  not  well  fastened  on,  and  looking  as  if  he 
would  fall  to  pieces  himself.  He  does  not  like 
to  be  seen,  either.  He  prefers  to  hide  in  a  thick 
bush,  and  make  all  sorts  of  strange  noises  to 
deceive  one. 

The  one  thing  a  chat  hates  more  than  any- 
thing else  is  to  have  his  nest  found.  I  have 
known  a  chat  to  desert  a  nest  with  three  lovely 


54 


THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 


eggs  in  it,  just  because  it  was  looked  at,  though 
neither  nest  nor  eggs  were  touched. 

I  found  that  nest  myself,  and  I  wanted  very 
much  to  see  how  the  birds  live  and  bring  up  the 
little  ones,  so  I  was  careful  not  to  disturb  any- 
thing. I  hid  myself  a  long  way  off,  where  I 
could  see  the  nest  with  a  field-glass,  and  where 
I  thought  the  birds  would  not  notice  me.  I  sat 
there  perfectly  still  for  hours,  till  the  eggs  had 
time  to  get  cold,  and  I  saw  another  bird  carry 
them  off.  No  doubt  they  saw  me,  however,  for 
they  never  came  back  to  the  nest. 


XI 

THE   VIBEO   FAMILY 

(  Vireonidce)  1 

THE  vireos  are  a  small  family,  fifty  species, 
found  only  in  America.  They  are  very  quietly 
dressed  in  greenish  olive  hues,  with  hardly  a 
bright  color  among  them.  They  were  once 
called  greenlets. 

They  all  live  in  trees  and  catch  insects,  going 
about  over  the  twigs.  They  sing  as  they  go, 
like  the  warblers,  combining  work  and  play. 
Some  of  them  sing  almost  without  stopping,  and 
it  gets  to  be  rather  tiresome  after  a  while.  One 
or  two  of  them  even  sing  on  the  nest,  which 
hardly  another  bird  does. 

The  vireos  make  the  prettiest  nests.  They 
are  swinging  baskets,  hung  between  the  forks 
of  a  twig,  and  usually  near  the  end,  where  they 
rock  in  every  breeze.  They  are  not  often  very 
high.  The  birds  are  easily  tamed  by  one  who  is 
quiet,  and  careful  not  to  frighten  them. 

1  See  Appendix,  9. 


56  THE   SECOND   BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

Mr.  Torrey  found  a  vireo  on  her  nest,  and  by 
gentle  ways  got  her  to  let  him  stroke  her.  Next 
day  he  took  some  rose  leaves  with  aphides  on 
them,  and  holding  one  of  the  insects  on  his  finger, 
he  offered  it  to  the  bird  on  the  nest.  She  took 
it,  and  then  another  and  another,  till  finally  she 
began  to  be  very  eager  for  them,  and  he  could 
hardly  feed  her  fast  enough.  Then  he  took  a 
teaspoon  full  of  water  up  to  her,  and  she  drank. 

Another  gentleman  —  Mr.  Hoffmann  —  did 
still  more.  He  coaxed  a  YELLOW-THROATED 
VIREO  till  she  took  food  out  of  his  lips.  Black 
ants  and  cankerworms  were  the  things  he  fed 
her.  She  preferred  the  ants,  and  would  scold 
him  a  little  at  first  when  he  offered  the  worms, 
though  she  took  them  at  last.  This  bird  was  so 
tame  she  would  let  a  man  lift  her  off  her  nest 
and  put  her  on  his  shoulder  while  he  looked  at 
the  eggs.  She  would  stay  there  till  he  put  her 
back. 

The  yellow-throat,  besides  making  a  pretty 
hanging  basket,  covers  the  outside  with  lichens 
of  different  colors,  green,  dark  and  light,  yellow, 
and  almost  black.  It  is  said  that  these  pretty 
things  are  put  on  by  the  male  while  his  mate  is 
sitting. 

A  pair  was  once  watched   at  their  building. 


YELLOW-THROATED  VIREO  AND  NEST 


THE  VIREO  FAMILY  57 

The  female  was  lining  and  shaping  the  inside, 
and  her  mate  working  silky-looking  strips  from 
plants  into  the  framework,  and  then  covering 
the  whole  with  lichens.  He  was  so  happy,  he 
sang  as  he  worked. 

The  one  of  this  family  most  widely  spread  over 
the  country,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  is 
the  WARBLING  VIREO.  His  song  is  the  most 
agreeable  of  the  vireo  songs,  being  truly  a  war- 
ble of  six  or  eight  notes,  of  which  one  does  not 
get  tired.  The  dress  of  the  Western  warbling 
vireo  is  a  little  paler,  but  the  habits  and  man- 
ners are  about  the  same  as  those  of  his  Eastern 
brother. 

Vireos  were  once  common  in  the  shade-trees 
of  our  city  streets,  and  are  still  in  some  places 
where  English  sparrows  have  not  taken  every- 
thing, and  boys  are  not  allowed  to  throw  stones 
or  shoot.  I  know  one  city  in  Massachusetts 
where  trees  are  very  lovely  and  musical  with  yel- 
low-throats. 

We  can  still  have  these  and  other  birds  in  our 
yards  —  we  who  do  not  live  in  the  middle  of  a 
big  city  —  by  protecting  them  from  cats  and  bad 
boys,  and  furnishing  good  places  to  nest.  Mr. 
Lloyd  Morgan  tells  of  a  garden  near  his  own 
where  there  were  fifty-three  nests,  besides  swal- 


58  THE  SECOND   BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

lows'.  The  owner  planted  thick  bushes,  and 
some  cone-bearing  trees.  He  put  bird-boxes  and 
old  flower-pots  and  other  things  suitable  to  build 
in,  in  convenient  places  in  the  trees.  The  birds 
appreciated  all  this  and  came  and  stayed  with 
him. 


xn 

THE   SHRIKE    FAMILY 

(Laniidce)  l 

A  SHRIKE  is  a  pretty  gray  bird  with  white  and 
black  trimmings.  He  is  nearly  as  large  as  a 
robin,  and  has  a  bill  slightly  hooked  on  the  end. 
This  is  to  help  catch  living  prey,  for  he  eats  mice 
and  other  little  mammals,  besides  grasshoppers, 
crickets,  and  sometimes  small  birds. 

This  family  have  a  curious  habit  of  sticking 
dead  grasshoppers,  or  mice,  or  other  food,  on  a 
thorn,  to  keep  till  they  are  wanted.  Because  of 
this  habit  they  have  been  called  butcher-birds. 

The  LOGGERHEAD  SHRIKE,  who  is  perhaps  the 
most  widely  known,  builds  a  bulky  nest  in  a  tree, 
and  is  very  attentive  to  his  mate  while  she  is 
sitting.  She  looks  exactly  like  him. 

He  is  a  very  quiet  bird,  and  three  or  four  or 
more  of  them  may  often  be  seen  in  a  little  party 
together,  flying  and  hopping  about  in  a  tree,  or 

1  See  Appendix,  10. 


60  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

on  the  ground,  in  the  most  amiable  way.  This 
shrike  is  a  sweet  singer,  too.  The  song  is  not 
loud,  but  very  pleasing. 

A  great  deal  that  is  not  true  has  been  said 
about  this  bird.  Some  people  seem  to  think  he 
is  in  the  habit  of  tormenting  and  killing  little 
birds  for  fun,  and  he  is  called  many  hard  names. 
But  he  does  not  deserve  them.  His  way  of  keep- 
ing his  food  has  been  spoken  of  as  if  it  were  a 
crime.  He  lives  generally  on  crickets,  grasshop- 
pers, meadow  mice,  and  small  snakes,  besides 
cut-worms,  cankerworms,  and  many  others.  He 
is  extremely  useful  to  farmers  and  cultivators  on 
that  account. 

Sometimes,  when  other  food  is  scarce,  he  eats 
small  birds,  but  they  are  by  no  means  his  usual 
food.  I  have  watched  a  family  of  shrikes  sev- 
eral times,  and  always  looked  very  sharply  to 
see  if  they  touched  birds.  I  have  seen  them  eat 
many  sorts  of  insects  and  grubs,  and  meadow 
mice,  but  never  saw  one  disturb  a  bird.  Other 
people  who  have  watched  them  closely  have 
told  that  their  experience  was  the  same.  And 
writers  about  birds  who  study  for  themselves^ 
and  do  not  merely  repeat  what  others  have  said, 
generally  agree  that  the  bird  kills  his  prey  be- 
fore he  impales  it.  More  than  that,  the  number 
of  birds  he  kills  is  very  small  compared  to  the 


LOGGERHEAD   SHRIKE 


THE  SHRIKE  FAMILY  61 

hosts  of  troublesome  insects  and  small  animals 
he  eats. 

The  conclusion  of  the  Agricultural  Depart- 
ment as  to  the  food  of  shrikes  all  over  the  coun- 
try is  that  it  consists  mainly  of  grasshoppers,  and 
that  the  good  they  do  is  much  greater  than  the 
harm,  and  therefore  they  should  be  protected. 

Mr.  Keyser  once  saw  a  shrike  catch  a  meadow 
mouse,  and  carry  it  up  into  a  tree.  First  he 
killed  it,  and  then  tried  to  wedge  it  into  a  crotch 
so  that  he  could  eat  it.  But  finally  he  found 
the  sharp  end  of  a  broken  snag,  on  which  he 
fastened  it. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  shrike  impales  his 
prey  so  that  he  can  pull  it  to  pieces  to  eat,  for 
his  feet  are  too  small  to  hold  it.  I  have  seen  a 
shrike  throw  a  dead  meadow  mouse  over  a  fence 
wire  that  had  sagged  to  the  ground,  in  order  to 
get  bits  off  to  eat. 

A  lady  in  New  Hampshire  who  had  a  captive 
shrike  tells  in  "  Bird-Lore  "  that  he  was  unable 
to  eat  a  piece  of  meat  until  he  could  find  a  place  to 
fasten  it.  He  hopped  around  the  room,  looking 
for  something,  till  she  guessed  what  he  wanted. 
Then  she  brought  a  kitchen  fork  with  two  tines. 
The  moment  he  saw  it  he  ran  to  her,  hopped  up 
on  her  hand,  jerked  his  meat  over  the  tines,  and 
at  once  began  to  eat. 


62  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

An  interesting  little  action  of  one  of  these 
birds  was  seen  by  a  gentleman  traveling  in 
Florida  last  winter.  Wishing  to  have  one  of 
the  birds  to  add  to  a  collection,  he  shot  one  (I  *m 
sorry  to  say).  The  bird  was  not  killed,  but 
wounded  so  that  he  could  not  fly.  As  the  man 
came  near  to  pick  it  up,  the  poor  fellow  gave  a 
cry  of  distress,  and  fluttered  away  on  his  broken 
wing  with  great  difficulty. 

His  call  for  help  was  heard.  Another  shrike 
at  once  flew  down  from  a  tree,  and  went  to  his 
aid.  He  flew  close  around  him  and  under  him, 
in  some  way  holding  him  up  as  he  was  about  to 
fall.  He  helped  him  so  well  that  the  two  began 
to  rise  in  the  air,  and  before  the  eyes  of  the 
surprised  hunter,  at  last  got  safely  into  the  top 
of  a  tall  tree,  where  he  left  them. 

If  you  ever  happen  to  find  a  shrike  nesting,  I 
hope  you  will  watch  the  birds  for  yourself,  and 
see  how  they  act,  and  not  take  the  word  of  any 
one  about  them.  Then  you  will  really  know 
them.  The  picture  shows  a  shrike  as  I  have 
often  seen  one,  sitting  on  the  top  twig  of  the 
tree  that  holds  his  nest,  watching  to  see  that  no 
harm  comes  to  it. 


XIII 

THE  WAXWING  FAMILY 

(Ampelidce)  * 

THE  waxwings  are  a  family  of  beautiful  birds, 
with  elegant  pointed  crests,  and  wonderfully 
silky  plumage.  Excepting  one  species  they  are  in 
soft  grayish  or  reddish  brown  colors,  with  yellow 
tips  to  their  tails  and  black  lines  on  the  head 
that  look  like  spectacles,  and  give  them  a  wise 
appearance. 

Best  known  is  the  CEDAR  WAXWING,  or  CEDAR- 
BIRD.  He  is  a  citizen  at  large,  you  may  say,  for 
he  is  known  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  Canada 
to  Mexico.  He  nests  all  over  the  northern  parts, 
and  winters  in  the  southern  parts. 

This  bird  gets  his  name  of  cedar-bird  from 
the  fact  that  he  is  fond  of  cedar  berries.  He  is 
often  called  cherry-bird  also,  because  he  likes 
cherries.  His  name  waxwing  comes  from  the 
little  tips  like  red  sealing-wax  which  are  on  some 

1  See  Appendix,  11. 


64  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

of  his  wing  feathers.  In  Maine  he  is  called  the 
bonnet-bird  because  of  his  crest,  and  in  some 
places  he  is  called  silk-tail  from  his  silky  plum- 
age. You  see  he  has  plenty  of  names. 

Among  the  strange  things  about  him  is  that 
he  has  almost  no  voice.  The  loudest  sound  he 
is  known  to  make  is  a  sort  of  whistle,  so  low  it 
is  like  a  whisper. 

The  cedar-bird  builds  a  very  neat  nest  in  a 
tree,  and  feeds  his  mate  while  she  is  sitting,  as 
well  as  helps  her  feed  the  little  folk.  The  young 
cedar-bird  is  a  winsome  youngster,  gentle  in  his 
ways,  and  pretty  in  his  soft  gray  suit  and  spotted 
breast. 

One  day  last  summer,  a  man  walking  down  a 
quiet  road  was  surprised  by  a  young  bird  alight- 
ing on  his  shoulder.  He  walked  on  home  with 
it,  and  when  he  took  it  off  found  it  was  a  baby 
cedar-bird.  No  doubt  he  had  tried  to  fly  too 
far  and  got  tired. 

The  family  kept  the  bird  a  day  or  two,  and 
then  brought  him  to  me.  He  was  not  afraid  of 
anybody,  and  was  perfectly  happy  so  long  as 
some  one  would  keep  him  warm  between  two 
hands. 

It  was  hard  to  get  him  to  eat,  and  there  were 
plenty  of  his  grown-up  relatives  about,  probably 
his  own  family  among  them.  So  I  thought  it 


THE  WAXWING  FAMILY  66 

would  be  safe  to  put  him  out.  I  took  him  to 
the  woods  where  I  had  seen  a  little  family  of 
young  cedar-birds,  and  placed  him  on  a  low 
tree.  He  brightened  up  at  once,  and  began  to 
call,  and  flew  to  another  tree.  Fearing  that  my 
being  there  might  prevent  his  mother  coming 
to  him,  I  left  him.  When  I  went  out  again  I 
could  not  find  him,  so  I  hope  he  was  safe  with 
•ris  friends. 

I  was  more  certain  of  it,  because  I  know  that 
these  birds  are  kind  to  all  birds  in  distress.  A 
lady  was  once  watching  a  nest  of  robins  when 
the  parents  disappeared,  no  doubt  killed.  She 
was  much  troubled  to  know  how  she  should  get 
at  the  high  nest  to  feed  the  young  ones  who 
were  calling  for  their  dinner,  when  she  saw  a 
cedar-bird  go  to  them  and  feed  them. 

After  that  she  kept  close  watch,  and  saw  the 
cedar-bird  feed  them  every  day,  and  take  care  of 
the  nestlings  till  they  could  fly.  He  no  doubt 
taught  them  to  take  care  of  themselves,  but  this 
she  could  not  see,  for  they  flew  away. 

The  ordinary  food  of  this  bird  is  insects  that 
are  found  on  trees,  especially  among  fruit.  But 
they  have  taken  to  fly-catching  also.  A  party  of 
them  may  often  be  seen  busily  at  work  catching 
flies.  This  is  a  very  good  thing  for  them  as 
as  for  us.  The  birds  or  beasts  who  can  eat 


66  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

only  one  sort  of  food  are  called  "  single-food  " 
animals,  and  they  are  growing  scarcer  every  day. 
They  need  a  change  of  diet  to  flourish.  We 
should  be  sorry  to  have  cedar-birds  become 
scarce. 

Cedar-birds  are  fond  of  cherries,  —  as  I  said, 
—  but  they  eat  hundreds  of  cankerworms  to  one 
cherry.  So  they  earn  all  they  have.  Besides,  if 
they  can  get  wild  cherries,  they  prefer  them. 
They  have  been  proved  to  be  among  our  most 
useful  birds.  In  one  hundred  and  fifty-two 
stomachs  that  were  examined,  only  nine  had  cul- 
tivated cherries. 

Cedar-birds  eat  caterpillars  and  grubs,  and  are 
very  fond  of  the  elm-leaf  beetle.  They  have 
been  known  to  clear  the  elm-trees  of  a  whole 
town,  where  the  trees  had  been  stripped  for  sev- 
eral years  before  they  came.  Besides  insects, 
they  eat  the  berries  of  many  wild  bushes  and 
trees,  such  as  wild  cherry,  dogwood,  June-berry, 
elder,  and  others.  They  always  prefer  wild  to 
cultivated  berries. 

One  spring  I  saw  a  little  flock  of  cedar-birds 
in  an  orchard  full  of  blossoming  apple-trees. 
They  spent  nearly  all  their  time  going  over 
the  trees,  and  working  among  the  blossoms. 
One  who  was  careless  about  it  might  have 
thought  they  were  destroying  apple  buds,  for  they 


THE  WAXWING  FAMILY  67 

did  eat  many  of  the  white  petals  of  the  flowers. 
But  I  wanted  to  be  sure,  so  I  watched  carefully 
with  my  glass.  Then  I  stayed  by  that  orchard 
till  October,  and  I  never  saw  trees  so  loaded  with 
apples  as  they  were.  Many  branches  lay  on  the 
ground  with  their  weight  of  fruit,  and  in  the 
whole  orchard  there  was  but  one  insect  nest. 
That  showed  not  only  that  the  cedar-birds  had 
done  no  harm,  but  that  probably  they  had  de- 
stroyed thousands  of  insects  that  would  have 
done  harm. 

A  bird  classed  with  the  waxwings  is  a  Califor- 
nia bird,  the  PHAINOPEPLA,  or  SHINING  CRESTED 
FLYCATCHER.  He  is  glossy  bluish  black  in 
color,  with  large  white  spots  in  the  wings,  which 
show  only  when  flying.  His  mate  is  brownish 
gray.  They  are  rather  slim  birds,  nearly  as  big 
as  a  catbird. 

The  phainopepla  is  a  beautiful  fellow,  with  an 
elegant  pointed  crest,  and  plumage  shining  like 
satin.  He  sits  up  very  straight  on  his  perch,  but 
he  is  a  rather  shy  bird,  and  so  not  much  is  known 
about  his  ways.  He  is  a  real  mountain  lover,  liv- 
ing on  mountains,  or  in  canons,  or  the  borders  of 
small  streams  of  California,  Arizona,  and  Texas. 

As  you  see  by  one  of  his  names,  he  is  a  fly- 
catcher. Sometimes  thirty  or  forty  of  them  may 


68  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

be  seen  in  a  flock,  all  engaged  in  catching  flies. 
But  like  the  cedar-bird,  he  is  also  fond  of  berries. 
When  berries  are  ripe  on  the  pepper-trees,  he 
comes  nearer  to  houses  to  feast  on  the  beautiful 
red  clusters. 

The  song  of  this  bird  is  said  to  be  fine,  and 
like  many  other  birds,  he  sometimes  utters  a 
sweet  whisper  song. 

The  nest  is  placed  on  a  branch,  not  very  high 
up  in  a  tree,  and  is  often,  perhaps  always,  made 
of  flower  stems  with  the  flowers  on,  with  fine 
strips  of  bark,  grasses,  and  plant  down. 

What  is  curious,  and  rare  among  birds,  the  male 
phainopepla  insists  on  making  the  nest  himself. 
He  generally  allows  his  mate  to  come  and  look 
on,  and  greets  her  with  joyous  song,  but  he  will 
riot  let  her  touch  it  till  all  is  done.  Sometimes 
he  even  drives  her  away.  When  all  is  ready  for 
sitting,  he  lets  her  take  her  share  of  the  work, 
but  even  then  he  appears  to  sit  as  much  as  she. 
Miss  Merriam  found  a  party  of  these  birds  on 
some  pepper-trees,  and  to  her  we  owe  most  of 
what  we  know  of  their  habits. 


XIV 

THE  SWALLOW  FAMILY 

(Hirundinidoe)  l 

IT  is  very  easy  to  know  this  family.  They  are 
small  birds  with  long  pointed  wings,  always  sail- 
ing around  in  the  air  as  if  they  could  never  tire. 
Their  beaks  are  short,  but  very  wide  at  the  head, 
and  the  mouth  opens  as  far  back  as  the  eyes. 
They  have  small  and  weak  feet,  so  when  they 
alight,  it  is  usually  on  a  small  twig  or  telegraph 
wire,  or  on  the  flat  top  of  a  fence  or  roof. 

Swallows  wear  no  gay  ci/iors.  Nearly  all  of 
them  look  black  and  white  as  they  sail  about  in 
the  air.  But  when  you  see  them  closely,  you  see 
they  are  glossy  dark  blue  or  green,  sometimes 
with  changeable  colors,  but  all  dark,  on  the 
back. 

The  BARN  SWALLOW  has  a  dull  reddish  breast, 
and  his  back  is  rich  blue,  almost  black.  He  has 
a  deeply  forked  tail,  and  a  row  of  white  spots  on 

1  See  Appendix,  12. 


70  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

the  shorter  tail  feathers.  When  he  spreads  his 
tail,  it  is  very  beautiful. 

He  is  called  barn  swallow  because  he  prefers 
a  barn  for  a  nesting-place.  Up  on  the  beams, 
close  under  the  roof,  the  pair  build  their  mud 
cradle.  It  is  interesting  to  see  them  at  work. 
When  they  have  chosen  a  place,  they  go  to  some 
puddle  in  the  road.  They  stand  around  it  on 
their  tiny  feet,  holding  their  wings  straight  up 
like  a  butterfly's.  Then  they  take  up  some  of 
the  wet  earth  in  their  beaks,  and  work  it  around 
till  it  is  made  into  a  little  pill.  With  this  pill 
they  fly  to  the  place  they  have  selected,  and 
stick  it  on  to  the  beam.  Then  they  go  back  for 
more.  So  they  go  on,  till  they  have  built  up 
the  walls  of  the  nest,  an  inch  thick,  and  three 
or  four  inches  high.  Sometimes  they  put  layers 
of  fine  grass  in,  but  often  they  use  nothing  but 
mud.  Then  they  line  it  with  feathers  which 
they  pick  up  in  the  chicken  yard. 

Some  swallows  build  a  platform  beside  the 
nest,  where  one  of  the  pair  can  rest  at  night ; 
and  when  the  little  ones  get  big  enough  to  fill 
up  the  nest,  both  parents  can  sleep  there. 

When  the  swallows  are  flying  about  low  over 
the  grass,  looking  as  if  they  were  at  play,  they 
are  really  catching  tiny  insects  as  they  go.  And 
when  they  have  nestlings  to  feed,  they  collect  a 


THE  SWALLOW  FAMILY  71 

mouthful  which  they  make  up  into  a  sort  of 
little  ball.  Then  they  fly  to  the  nest  and  feed 
it  to  one  of  the  little  ones. 

Thus  they  keep  the  air  clear  and  free  from 
insects,  and  they  do  not  a  bit  of  harm,  for  thej 
never  touch  our  fruit  or  vegetables. 

Barn  swallows  are  social,  and  always  go  in 
flocks.  They  sing,  too,  —  a  sweet  little  song,  but 
not  very  loud.  It  is  charming  to  hear  them  in 
a  barn  when  five  or  six  of  them  sing  together. 
But  one  may  often  hear  the  little  song  from  a 
single  bird  flying  over. 

They  are  friendly  among  themselves,  and  they 
like  to  alight  on  a  roof  and  chatter  away  a  long 
time.  In  one  place  where  I  was  staying,  they 
liked  to  gather  on  a  piazza  roof  right  under  my 
window.  They  often  woke  me  in  the  morning 
with  their  sweet  little  voices. 

One  morning  the  sound  was  so  near,  it  seemed 
as  if  they  must  be  in  th  3  room,  and  I  opened 
my  eyes  to  see.  There  on  the  sill  close  to  the 
screen  was  one  of  the  pretty  fellows.  He  was 
looking  in  at  the  open  window,  and  evidently 
keeping  watch  of  me.  When  I  moved  a  little, 
he  gave  the  alarm,  and  the  whole  party  flew 
away. 

The  chatter  of  barn  swallows  always  seems  to 
me  like  talk,  and  men  who  study  bird  ways  agree 


72  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

that  birds  have  some  sort  of  language.  The 
swallows  have  many  different  notes.  One  is  a 
general  warning  of  danger,  but  there  is  another 
note  for  a  man,  another  for  a  cat,  and  a  still 
different  one  when  they  find  something  good  to 
eat,  which  they  call  the  others  to  share. 

"  The  variety  of  bird  speech/'  says  a  man  who 
has  studied  birds  a  long  time,  "  is  very  great." 
And  of  all  bird  voices,  swallows'  are  the  most 
like  human  speech.  If  you  lie  on  the  hay  in  the 
barn  very  quiet,  and  listen  to  them  when  they 
come  in  and  fly  about,  you  will  see  that  this  is 
true.  It  seems  sometimes  as  if  you  could  almost 
make  out  words. 

Swallows  more  than  any  other  birds  like  to 
make  use  of  our  buildings  for  their  own  homes. 
Barn  swallows  take  the  beams  inside  the  barns, 
EAVE  SWALLOWS  settle  under  the  eaves  outside, 
and  PURPLE  MARTINS,  the  largest  of  the  family, 
choose  bird-houses  which  we  put  up  for  them. 

It  is  said  that  purple  martins  will  not  stay 
anywhere  that  men  have  not  made  houses  for 
them.  But  I  have  seen  them  living  in  a  place 
not  put  up  for  them,  though  perhaps  they 
thought  it  was.  It  was  under  a  terra-cotta  cover- 
ing to  a  cornice  on  a  business  block  in  the  mid- 
dle of  a  busy  city.  The  terra-cotta  was  shaped 


THE  SWALLOW  FAMILY  73 

like  a  large  pipe  cut  in  half,  the  long  way.  This 
half  cylinder  was  laid  on  top  of  the  brick  cor- 
nice, and  that  made  a  little  roof,  you  see.  The 
whole  length  of  that  cornice  was  thus  made  into 
one  long  room,  with  a  brick  floor  and  terra-cotta 
roof,  and  an  entrance  at  the  end.  That  room 
must  have  had  a  dozen  martin  nests,  for  a  flock 
was  all  the  time  sailing  about  in  the  air,  above 
the  roofs  of  the  houses. 

As  these  birds  eat  only  flying  insects,  they 
cannot  stay  with  us  when  it  is  too  cool  for  in- 
sects to  fly  abroad.  So  they  leave  us  very  early. 
When  the  little  ones  are  out  of  the  nest  and  can 
fly  well,  swallows  from  all  the  country  around 
collect  in  great  flocks,  and  go  to  some  swamp, 
or  lonely  place  where  people  do  not  go  much. 
There  the  young  ones  are  taught  and  exercised 
every  day  in  flying.  And  some  day  we  shall  go 
out  and  find  them  all  gone,  not  a  swallow  to  be 
seen.  They  have  started  for  their  winter  home, 
which  is  far  south,  in  tropical  countries,  where 
insects  never  fail ;  but  it  is  a  comfort  to  think 
that  next  summer  we  shall  have  them  back  with 
us  again. 

The  swallows  I  have  mentioned,  barn  swallow, 
eave  swallow,  and  purple  martin,  are  found  all 
over  our  country. 

Let  me  tell  you  a  story  that  shows  the  purple 


74  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

martin  has  a  good  deal  of  sense.  One  of  these 
birds  built  in  a  box  under  a  window,  fixed  so 
that  the  owner  could  open  it  and  take  out  eggs. 
He  took  out  several,  one  at  a  time,  and  at  last  he 
took  out  one  of  the  birds. 

The  mate  of  the  stolen  bird  went  off  and  in 
a  few  days  came  back  with  another  mate.  The 
box  was  too  good  to  give  up,  so  both  the  birds 
went  to  work  to  make  it  safe  against  the  nest 
robber.  They  built  up  a  wall  of  mud  before  the 
too  handy  back  door.  The  egg  thief  could  not 
get  in  without  breaking  down  the  wall,  and  he 
was  ashamed  to  do  that.  So  the  birds  kept  their 
pleasant  home,  and  reared  their  family  there. 


XV 

THE   TANAGER   FAMILY 

(Tanagridce)  l 

THIS  is  a  large  family  of  between  three  and 
four  hundred  species,  all  dressed  in  gay  colors. 
But  we  have  only  three  of  them  in  our  country. 
Their  home  is  in  the  warmer  parts  of  the  world. 
We  have  the  scarlet  tanager  in  the  East,  the 
Louisiana  tanager  in  the  West,  and  the  summer 
tanager  in  the  South.  Tanagers  are  a  little 
larger  than  sparrows,  and  live  in  the  trees. 
They  feed  on  insects  and  fruit ;  sometimes,  it  is 
said,  on  flowers. 

The  SCARLET  TANAGER  is  the  brilliant  red 
bird  with  black  wings  and  tail,  common  all  over 
the  Eastern  and  Middle  States.  His  mate  is 
dressed  in  modest  olive  green,  and  the  nestlings 
are  like  her  the  first  year. 

The  tanager  himself  wears  his  gay  dress  only 
during  the  nesting  season,  that  is,  spring  and 

1  See  Appendix,  13. 


76  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

summer.  Towards  fall  he  turns  from  scarlet 
to  green  like  his  mate,  and  he  is  a  droll-loot 
ing  object  while  he  does  it.  He  seems  to  break 
out  into  green  patches  or  streaks.  One  that  I 
watched  began  by  showing  a  little  green  feather 
among  the  red  on  each  side  of  his  breast.  I 
have  seen  one  with  a  green  ring  around  the 
neck,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  plumage  scarlet; 
and  another  with  a  green  stripe  down  the  back. 
Some  show  no  regularity  about  it,  but  are  cov- 
ered with  green  patches  all  over,  and  look  like 
bunches  of  colored  rags. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  a  bird  hides  in  the  woods, 
as  many  do,  when  changing  his  coat,  if  he  looks 
such  an  object.  In  spring  he  gets  back  his  bril- 
liant coat,  and  comes  to  our  Northern  woods 
again,  to  nest. 

The  nest  of  this  bird  is  not  very  high  in  a 
tree.  It  is  a  rather  shabby  affair,  that  looks  as 
if  it  would  fall  to  pieces,  and  the  birds  are  madly 
shy  about  being  looked  at. 

I  once  saw  in  the  woods  a  tanager  building 
her  nest.  I  hoped  to  watch  her  through  nest- 
ing, and  see  how  she  brought  up  her  little  folk. 
Both  of  the  pair  were  there,  but  were  too  shy  to 
come  to  the  nest  while  my  friend  and  I  were 
there.  We  kept  very  still,  and  even  hid  in  some 
bushes,  hoping  she  would  not  see  us.  We  were 


SCARLET  TANAGER 


THE  TANAGER  FAMILY  77 

so  quiet  that  she  was  gradually  getting  over  her 
fright,  and  coming  nearer  the  nest,  when  sud- 
denly the  big  dog  we  had  with  us  gave  a  loud 
sneeze.  In  an  instant  both  birds  were  off,  as 
if  shot  out  of  a  gun.  And  I  think  they  never 
came  back,  for  the  nest  was  not  finished. 

The  song  of  the  tanager  is  much  like  the  robin 
song,  but  having  once  learned  it,  a  sharp  ear 
can  easily  tell  them  apart,  for  it  is  of  a  differ- 
ent tone.  It  is  rather  hoarse,  not  so  smooth  as 
a  robin's  voice.  The  common  call  is  a  hoarse 
and  very  distinct  "  chip,  chur,"  given  by  both  of 
the  pair. 

Several  years  ago  I  saw  a  scarlet  tanager  in  a 
bird  store.  It  was  winter,  and  I  brought  him 
home  to  keep  till  it  was  safe  to  set  him  free  in 
the  spring.  He  was  very  timid,  and  did  not  like 
to  have  any  one  look  at  him,  especially  when  he 
went  to  eat. 

If  I  happened  to  look  at  him  when  he  was  at 
his  food-dish,  he  would  instantly  fly  to  his  top 
perch,  and  look  as  if  he  would  never  eat  again. 
So  I  partitioned  off  one  corner  of  his  cage  for 
a  private  dining-room,  by  a  strip  of  stiff  paper 
woven  between  the  wires.  After  that  it  was  very 
droll  to  see  him  retire  behind  the  screen  and  eat, 
now  and  then  sticking  up  his  head  to  glance  over 
the  top,  and  see  if  I  were  looking. 


78  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

I  found  it  hard  to  please  him  with  food.  He 
liked  living  insects,  but  he  wanted  to  catch  them 
for  himself.  So  I  got  some  sticky  fly-paper,  and 
hung  it  up  outside  the  kitchen  door.  When  I 
had  caught  half  a  dozen  flies,  I  took  it  up  to  him. 
He  was  not  in  a  cage,  and  the  minute  he  saw  the 
flies  he  flew  across  the  room  and  hovered  before 
me  like  a  big  hummingbird,  while  he  daintily 
picked  off  every  fly.  He  forgot  that  he  did  n't 
like  to  have  me  see  him  eat.  After  that  I  was 
fly-catcher  every  day  till  he  learned  to  like  mock- 
ingbird food. 

In  the  spring  he  began  to  sing  —  a  sweet,  low 
song,  different  from  the  common  tanager  song. 
Then  I  took  him  out  to  the  country,  away  from 
the  English  sparrows,  and  set  him  free. 

The  SUMMER  TANAGER  nests  in  the  Southern 
States  from  New  Jersey  to  Florida.  He  is  all 
red,  but  otherwise  looks  like  the  scarlet  tanager, 
and  his  habits  are  about  the  same. 

The  LOUISIANA  TANAGER  nests  in  the  Western 
States  from  the  Plains  to  the  Pacific.  He  is 
brighter,  with  a  variety  of  colors.  He  is  mostly 
bright  yellow,  with  brilliant  red  head,  and  black 
wings  and  tail,  and  his  mate  —  like  other  female 
tanagers  —  is  in  olive  green.  He  is  a  shy  bird, 


THE  TANAGER  FAMILY  79 

and  lives  in  the  woods,  and  his  habits  have  been 
very  little  studied. 

I  once  saw  a  pair  of  these  birds  in  Utah,  get- 
ting their  breakfast.  At  least,  the  gay  singer 
himself  was  at  that  business,  though  his  sharp- 
eyed  mate  was  too  busy  watching  me  to  see  that 
I  did  not  mean  any  harm,  to  care  for  food. 

They  were  on  a  long  fence,  catching  flies.  One 
would  fly  out  a  little  way,  his  bill  snapping  as  he 
seized  the  fly,  and  then  return  to  the  fence  a  lit- 
tle farther  off.  Every  time  he  came  back  he 
alighted  farther  away,  though  he  did  not  seem 
even  to  see  me.  His  mate  kept  between  him  and 
me,  and  never  took  her  eyes  from  me.  I  feared 
she  would  go  hungry,  so  I  came  away  and  left 
them. 


XVI 

THE   SPABBOW   AND   FINCH   FAMILY 

(Fringillidce) l 

THIS  is  the  largest  bird  family,  more  than  five 
hundred  species,  and  they  are  found  nearly  all 
over  the  world.  It  is  divided  into  sparrows, 
finches,  grosbeaks,  and  crossbills.  All  of  them 
are  smaller  than  a  robin,  and  have  short,  high 
beaks,  with  the  back  corners  turned  down.  The 
beaks  show  that  they  are  seed  eaters,  though  all 
of  them  eat  insects  too. 

An  interesting  thing  about  birds  who  eat 
seeds  is  the  grinding  machine  they  have  inside 
to  break  up  the  hard  seeds.  For  of  course,  hav- 
ing no  teeth,  they  are  obliged  to  swallow  them 
nearly  whole.  What  I  have  called  a  machine  is 
the  gizzard,  and  you  have  seen  it  on  the  table 
from  a  chicken.  It  is  well  fitted  to  grind  up  the 
food,  and  birds  often  swallow  small  stones  to 
help  in  the  work. 

The  first  group  of  this  family,  the  sparrows, 

1  See  Appendix,  14. 


THE  SPARROW  AND  FINCH  FAMILY          81 

are  all  small,  about  the  size  of  an  English  spar- 
row. They  are  dressed  in  dull,  brownish  colors, 
more  or  less  streaked,  and  they  live  and  get  their 
food  very  largely  on  or  near  the  ground.  Their 
colors  keep  them  from  being  easily  seen  on  the 
ground. 

All  of  this  group  sing,  and  some  of  them  are 
noted  songsters,  as  the  song  sparrow,  the  white- 
throated  sparrow,  and  the  fox  sparrow.  The 
best  known  is  the  little  song  sparrow,  who  is 
found  almost  everywhere,  and  is  dear  to  nearly 
every  one. 

The  SONG  SPARROW  is  streaked  all  over  in 
shades  of  brown.  The  breast  is  white,  with 
the  dark  brown  streaks  coming  together  in  an 
irregular-shaped  spot,  or  sometimes  two  spots,  in 
front. 

The  nest  of  the  song  sparrow  is  on  the  ground 
or  very  near  it.  Sometimes  it  is  in  a  tuft  of 
grass,  sometimes  in  a  low  bush  a  few  inches  up. 
One  I  found  at  the  roots  of  a  little  clump  of 
golden-rod,  before  it  bloomed,  of  course.  It 
was  a  slight  affair,  right  among  the  stems,  so 
that  it  could  not  be  taken  up  without  tearing 
the  plant. 

This  bird  is  one  of  the  first  to  come  in  the 
spring,  and  his  song  and  the  robin's  are  the  first 


82  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

we  hear.  He  also  stays  very  late  in  the  fall,  and 
about  New  York  some  of  them  stay  all  winter. 
Their  food  being  the  seeds  of  weeds,  which  are 
always  to  be  found,  they  do  not  need  to  migrate. 
The  song  sparrow  has  a  sweet  and  cheery 
voice,  and  a  variety  of  songs,  and  he  sings  a 
great  deal.  I  have  heard  one  bird  sing  six  dif- 
ferent songs,  standing  on  a  fence  in  plain  sight 
all  the  time.  Some  of  the  songs  are  charming, 
and  all  are  pleasant  to  hear.  One  never  tires  of 
song-sparrow  music. 

The  second  branch  of  this  family  —  the 
Finches  —  have  some  brighter  colored  members, 
the  goldfinch  in  brilliant  lemon-yellow,  and  the 
purple  finch  in  crimson  and  white. 

The  GOLDFINCH,  called  also  the  thistle-bird, 
lettuce-bird,  and  wild  canary,  is  a  charming  fel- 
low, dressed,  as  I  said,  in  lemon  color,  with  black 
wings  and  tail  and  cap.  His  mate  is  in  olive 
brown.  He  is  the  most  delightful  of  singers, 
with  a  sweet  voice,  and  is  a  common  bird  all  over 
the  country.  He  flies  in  great  waves,  uttering 
a  cheery  little  warble  as  he  goes  over  each  airy 
wave. 

The  nest  is  one  of  the  prettiest  we  have,  in 
an  upright  crotch,  and  furnished  with  a  bed  of 
thistledown  an  inch  thick  for  the  baby  gold- 


THE  SPARROW  AND  FINCH  FAMILY          83 

finches  to  rest  upon.  It  is  made  late  in  the 
season,  in  July  and  sometimes  in  August. 

One  of  the  most  lovely  bird-studies  I  ever  had 
was  of  a  pair  of  these  birds  nesting  in  a  low  plum- 
tree.  While  his  mate  was  sitting,  the  gay  little 
fellow  hung  around,  doing  nothing  but  watch- 
ing the  tree  that  held  his  family.  Every  little 
while  the  sitting  bird  would  begin  to  call  her 
sweet-voiced  "  s-w-e-e-t,"  which  sounds  so  much 
like  a  canary's  call.  On  hearing  this  he  would 
answer  her,  and  at  once  fly  over  to  see  if  she 
was  all  right,  or  wanted  anything.  When  he 
thought  it  time  to  eat,  he  would  come  and  call 
her  off.  Both  would  then  go  to  a  patch  of 
weeds,  where  they  cracked  and  ate  the  seeds  till 
they  had  had  enough,  and  then  go  back  to  the 
nursery. 

These  little  birds  eat  mostly  the  seeds  of 
weeds,  —  thistle,  ragweed,  and  beggar' s-ticks,  — 
as  well  as  the  larvse  of  the  wheat-midge  and 
other  pests,  and  they  feed  great  quantities  to 
their  young. 

Goldfinches  do  not  leave  us  in  winter.  The 
male  puts  off  his  bright  coat  and  comes  out  in 
dull  colors  like  his  mate,  except  that  he  keeps 
his  black  wings  and  tail.  All  of  a  neighborhood 
collect  in  small  flocks  and  stay  about  all  winter, 
looking  more  like  sparrows  than  goldfinches. 


84  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

The  Western  goldfinch  which  corresponds  to 
this  bird  is  called  in  California  the  WILLOW 
GOLDFINCH,  but  in  looks  and  in  habits  of  life 
he  seems  to  be  the  same  as  the  Eastern  bird. 
He  is  a  confiding  little  creature,  and  by  a  person 
of  quiet  ways  may  be  made  very  tame. 

Among  the  finches  will  be  found  the  CHEWINK, 
or  TOWHEE  BUNTING,  a  bird  nearly  of  the  size  of 
a  catbird,  who  is  sometimes  called  ground  robin. 
He  is  black  and  white,  with  reddish  sides  and  red 
eyes,  and  his  mate  is  brown  where  he  is  black. 
He  is  usually  found  on  the  ground,  where  he  gets 
his  food,  and  where  the  nest  is  placed. 

There  are  several  species  in  California,  and 
the  Western  variety  of  the  common  chewink 
of  the  East  is  called  the  spurred  towhee,  with 
habits  the  same,  so  far  as  known. 

The  chewink  has  at  the  best  an  exquisite  song, 
though  there  is  a  great  difference  in  singers,  as 
there  is  in  all  bird  families.  The  finest  song  is 
like  a  peal  of  silver-toned  bells. 

A  bird-lover  whom  I  know  found  one  day  a 
nestling  chewink  who  could  not  fly  much,  and 
seemed  to  be  deserted,  or  lost,  in  a  barren  place 
on  Long  Island.  Fearing  that  some  cat  would 
get  him,  he  brought  the  bird  home  and  put 
him  in  a  cage.  The  little  fellow  was  not  at  all 


THE  SPARROW  AND  FINCH  FAMILY         85 

frightened  at  his  new  surroundings,  and  became 
very  tame. 

The  cage  of  the  young  bird  was  near  that  of 
an  ortolan,  a  European  bird  noted  as  a  singer, 
and  a  common  cage-bird.  The  baby  chewink 
seemed  to  take  a  great  liking  to  the  stranger, 
and  tried  to  do  everything  he  did.  Perhaps  he 
felt  the  need  of  some  education,  since  he  had 
been  deprived  of  his  parents.  At  any  rate,  he 
evidently  adopted  the  ortolan  as  his  model. 

When  the  little  one  began  to  sing,  he  did  not 
sing  chewink  but  ortolan,  and  he  did  it  so  well 
that  one  could  hardly  tell  which  bird  was  sing- 
ing. The  gentleman  wanted  to  see  if  the  little 
fellow  would  recognize  the  song  of  his  own 
family.  So  he  bought  a  full-grown  chewink  who 
was  singing,  and  put  him  close  to  his  young 
relative.  The  new  bird  was  full  of  music,  and 
sang  a  great  deal.  But  the  youngster  paid  no 
attention  to  him,  and  kept  up  his  ortolan  notes. 

This  story  shows  that  a  bird  does  not  always, 
if  ever,  know  his  native  song  by  instinct,  but  has 
to  learn  it.  It  is  supposed  by  those  who  have 
studied  bird  ways  that  he  learns  it  from  the  old 
bird  before  he  leaves  the  nest. 


XVII 

THE   GROSBEAK   BRANCH 

(Fringillidce)  —  Continued 

THE  third  division  of  this  family  is  of  gros- 
beaks. These  are  the  largest  of  the  group,  and 
nearly  the  size  of  a  robin,  with  very  big  beaks. 
They  live  in  trees  and  wear  some  bright  colors. 
They  are  also  fine  singers. 

In  the  Eastern  States,  and  west  to  Missouri,  is 
found  the  ROSE-BREASTED  GROSBEAK.  He  is  a 
beautiful  bird,  black  and  white,  with  a  gorgeous 
rose-colored  patch  on  his  white  breast,  and  the 
same  color  on  the  inside  of  his  wings.  You  can 
see  him  in  the  picture.  His  mate  is  modest  in 
stripes  of  brown  and  buffy  white. 

A  lady  whom  I  know  in  New  England  has  had 
three  of  these  birds  living  tame  in  her  house, 
hardly  at  all  confined  to  a  cage.  Each  one  was 
picked  up  when  just  out  of  the  nest  and  so  injured 
that  it  could  not  care  for  itself.  It  was  carefully 
fed  and  reared  in  the  house,  and  thus  saved  from 
death. 


ROSE-BREASTED  GROSBEAK 


THE  GROSBEAK  BRANCH  87 

One  of  the  three  was  a  female,  who  was  as 
tame  as  a  domestic  cat,  and  lived  in  the  house 
four  or  five  years.  She  was  a  fine  singer, 
though  never  a  loud  one.  She  kept  the  family 
cats  in  their  place  by  pecking  at  their  toes  when 
they  came  near,  so  they  had  respect  for  her. 

Another  was  a  young  singer  who  had  his  bill 
crossed,  so  that  he  could  not  feed  himself.  He 
was  nearly  dead  for  want  of  food  when  he  was 
found.  She  fed  him  carefully  and  brought  him 
up,  though  she  had  always  to  feed  him  herself. 
That  is  a  good  deal  to  do,  for  birds  want  to  be 
fed  very  often. 

These  birds  who  lived  in  a  house,  and  were 
not  taught  by  their  parents,  never  gave  the  com- 
mon song  of  the  species,  but  made  up  songs  of 
their  own.  They  lived  several  years  with  their 
friend,  who  was  very  fond  of  them. 

The  rose-breasted  grosbeak  is  one  who  puts 
on  his  gay  colors  only  for  the  nesting  season. 
When  that  is  over,  and  he  moults,  and  gets  his 
new  winter  suit,  it  is  mostly  streaked  brown  like 
his  mate's.  The  rosy  patch  is  very  small,  and 
mixed  with  brown,  so  the  effect  is  dull.  In  the 
spring  he  moults  the  body  feathers,  and  comes 
out  again  with  his  brilliant  rose  colors. 

The  bird  who  takes  the  place  of  the  rose- 


88  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

breast  in  the  West  is  the  BLACK-HEADED  GROS- 
BEAK. He  is  reddish  brown  and  black,  with  the 
same  color  and  lemon  yellow  on  the  under  parts, 
and  yellow  under  the  wings,  instead  of  rose  like 
the  Eastern  bird.  He  is  a  loud,  enthusiastic 
singer.  Miss  Merriam  says  of  him  that  his  song 
to  his  mate  is  finer  than  that  of  any  other  bird 
she  has  heard. 

The  CARDINAL  GROSBEAK,  cardinal  redbird, 
Virginia  nightingale,  or  redbird,  as  he  is  called 
in  different  places,  is  of  the  third  group  of  this 
family.  He  is  found  all  over  the  Southern  States, 
and  as  far  north  as  Southern  New  England  and 
New  York.  He  is  a  brilliant  red  to  the  tip  of 
his  beak,  with  a  beautiful  crest  and  black  throat 
and  face.  His  mate  is  in  soft  dove  colors,  with 
red  beak,  and  reddish  tints  on  her  quiet  robe. 

Both  of  the  pair  are  singers.  He  is  much  the 
louder,  but  she  has  the  sweeter  song.  He  is 
famous  as  a  singer,  and  is  therefore  trapped  and 
caught  in  great  numbers  for  cages.  In  Europe, 
where  he  is  a  favorite  cage-bird,  he  is  thought 
by  many  to  be  equal  to  the  famous  nightingale 
as  a  singer. 

In  Ohio,  a  few  years  ago,  a  law  was  made  that 
no  cardinal  should  be  caged,  and  those  in  cages 
jhould  be  set  free.  In  one  small  village  were 


THE  GROSBEAK  BRANCH  89 

more  than  forty  freed.  This  shows  how  many 
are  caged. 

While  nesting,  the  cardinal  is  rather  savage, 
ready  to  fight  any  one  who  disturbs  the  nest. 
If  a  snake  comes  about,  all  the  birds  within 
hearing,  from  cardinals  to  kinglets,  will  come  to 
help  defend  the  nest  and  punish  the  enemy. 
They  fly  at  him  with  loud  cries,  and  even  attack 
him  if  he  does  not  leave. 

The  nest  of  these  birds  is  not  very  high,  in  a 
tree  or  bush,  and  they  are  very  shy  about  it.  A 
cardinal  will  desert  her  nest  if  it  is  touched, 
especially  if  eggs  are  not  yet  laid.  But  they 
have  reason  to  be  afraid ;  they  cannot  be  blamed 
for  that. 

I  saw  a  nest  built  on  a  trellis  beside  a  kitchen 
door,  and  the  birds  were  so  used  to  the  people 
that  they  were  not  afraid.  One  who  lived  in 
that  house  was  a  boy  fourteen  years  old.  But 
he  was  so  gentle  with  birds  that  they  did  not 
fear  him  at  all.  They  would  feed  the  nestlings 
freely,  while  he  stood  not  three  feet  from  them. 
So  they  can  be  made  tame,  if  people  will  be 
gentle  and  not  disturb  them. 

The  cardinal  grosbeak  stays  as  far  north  as 
New  Jersey  and  Ohio  all  winter,  and  a  little 
flock  have  lived  in  Central  Park,  New  York,  for 
several  years.  That  is  most  delightful  for  those 


90  THE  SECOND   BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

who  live  near,  for  they  sing  all  winter,  when  few 
bird-notes  are  to  be  heard.  They  can  stay  be- 
cause they  are  seed  eaters,  and  they  find  many 
weed  seeds,  and  wild  berries  like  cedar  berries, 
that  stay  on  all  winter. 

A  lady  once  had  a  cardinal  in  a  cage  with  a 
pair  of  the  tiny  green  parrots  called  love-birds. 
These  little  birds,  you  know,  are  always  putting 
the  bills  together  and  caressing  each  other,  as  if 
kissing.  The  cardinal  seemed  to  think  this  very 
silly ;  at  any  rate,  he  did  not  like  it.  After  look- 
ing on  awhile,  he  would  lose  patience  and  dash 
right  down  between  them.  Of  course  this  drove 
them  apart.  Then  he  seemed  to  feel  better,  and 
went  back  to  his  perch.  But  when  they  began 
it  again,  down  he  would  come  between  them 
again.  He  did  not  disturb  them  at  any  other 
time,  but  that  sort  of  thing  he  plainly  could  n't 
endure. 


CARDINAL 


XVIII 

THE    CROSSBILL   BRANCH 

(Fringillidce)  —  Continued 

THE  fourth  branch  of  this  family  is  of  cross- 
bills. Of  these  we  have  two.  They  are  smaller 
than  grosbeaks,  and,  as  their  name  shows,  have 
the  two  points  of  the  bill  crossed.  It  looks  as 
if  they  could  not  feed  themselves.  But  a  beak 
like  this  is  just  fitted  to  pick  seeds  out  of  cones. 
And  crossbills  live  mostly  on  cone-seeds. 

These  queer  beaks  are  used  for  another  thing, 
too.  They  help  the  birds  climb  around  on  the 
trees.  They  are  almost  as  good  as  a  hand.  You 
have  seen  a  parrot  use  his  beak  in  the  same  way. 

The  AMERICAN,  or  RED,  CROSSBILL  is  the 
more  common  of  our  two.  He  travels  about  all 
over  the  Northern  States  and  California.  But 
he  's  very  particular  about  a  place  to  nest,  and  is 
suited  only  in  the  northern  parts,  or  in  the 
mountains. 

The  red  crossbill  seems  to  be  a  whimsical  fel- 


92  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

low ;  one  never  knows  where  to  find  him.  One 
year  he  will  come  with  all  his  friends  to  a  place, 
and  the  next  year  there  will  not  he  one  there. 

The  male  is  dull  red,  more  or  less  streaked  all 
over  with  brown.  His  mate  is  olive  green,  mot- 
tled and  mixed  with  blackish. 

Crossbills  go  in  flocks.  They  are  usually  seen 
among  the  evergreens,  where  they  find  their 
food.  They  are  much  attached  to  one  another. 

I  had  a  chance  one  summer  to  get  well  ac- 
quainted with  a  flock  of  American  crossbills.  I 
found  them  very  odd  in  their  manners.  They 
had  the  queerest  songs  and  calls  of  any  bird  I 
know.  These  were  not  musical,  but  sounded  like 
such  things  as  the  squeaking  of  a  wagon  wheel 
or  the  sawing  of  wood. 

The  birds  were  very  fond  of  calling  and  sing- 
ing, and  they  kept  up  a  constant  chattering, 
as  they  flew  from  spruce  to  spruce.  They  spent 
most  of  their  time  on  these  trees,  eating  the 
seeds  of  the  cones. 

The  white-winged  crossbill  lives  about  as  the 
red  one  does.  But  he  has  a  really  fine  song.  It 
is  full  of  trills,  something  like  a  canary's  song. 

One  of  the  odd  things  about  these  birds  is 
their  habit  of  nesting  in  winter.  A  Maine 
hunter  was  once  shooting  moose  in  the  middle 
of  January,  when  he  came  upon  the  nest  of  a 


THE  CROSSBILL  BRANCH  93 

crossbill,  with  the  bird  sitting.  The  weather 
was  cold,  of  course,  and  there  was  deep  snow  on 
the  ground.  The  nest  was  in  the  woods,  and 
made  of  twigs,  with  long  gray  moss  outside.  It 
looked  so  like  a  bunch  of  moss  that  it  was  hard 
to  see.  Other  nests  have  been  found  in  winter 
also. 

Mr.  Nehrling  says  that  if  one  of  these  birds 
is  caught,  the  rest  of  the  flock  will  not  leave  him. 
They  stay  around  him,  crying  and  showing  their 
distress  in  every  way,  and  if  one  is  put  alone 
into  a  cage,  he  will  die. 


XIX 

THE   BLACKBIRD   FAMILY 

(Icteridce)  l 

THERE  are  more  than  one  hundred  species  of 
the  Blackbird  Family  in  America.  So  we  will 
divide  them  into  four  branches :  Marsh  Black- 
birds, Meadow  Starlings,  Orioles,  and  Crow 
Blackbirds. 

Blackbirds  are  walkers.  They  dress  mostly  in 
black,  and  they  are  of  medium  size.  Some  of 
them  will  generally  be  found  on  the  ground  in 
a  marsh  or  a  meadow.  They  are  social  birds, 
that  is,  they  go  in  flocks.  Fond  as  they  are  of 
society,  however,  there  is  one  time  when  they 
are  willing  to  be  a  little  apart  from  the  black- 
bird world.  That  is  when  they  are  nesting  and 
rearing  a  young  family.  Two  interesting  birds 
of  this  family  are  the  red-winged  blackbird  and 
the  cow-blackbird  or  cowbird. 

The   RED-WINGED   BLACKBIRD   is   found  all 

1  See  Appendix,  15. 


RED-WINGED    BLACKBIRD 


THE  BLACKBIRD  FAMILY  95 

over  the  country.  He  is  not  so  large  as  a  robin, 
and  is  black  all  over,  excepting  one  place  on  the 
wings.  On  these  are  bright  stripes  of  red  and 
orange,  which  seem  to  be  on  the  shoulders  when 
the  wings  are  closed.  They  make  the  bird  very 
gay,  when  he  spreads  them  out  in  flying. 

The  red-wing's  mate  is  a  modest-looking  bird 
in  stripes  of  brown  and  black.  She  is  a  plodding 
sort  of  a  creature,  too.  She  walks  about  on  the 
ground,  looking  for  grubs  or  insects  so  busily 
that  she  hardly  seems  to  see  anything  else. 

The  nest  is  usually  in  a  marsh.  At  any  rate, 
it  must  be  near  the  water,  for  red-wings  are  as 
fond  of  the  water  as  any  old  sailor.  It  is  hung 
between  reeds,  or  in  the  branches  of  a  low  bush. 
It  is  a  comfortable,  bag-like  affair,  deep  enough 
and  big  enough  to  hold  the  restless  blackbird 
babies. 

While  the  mother  red-wing  is  sitting,  her  mate 
stays  near  her  and  sings  a  great  deal.  His  song 
is  a  loud,  sweet  "  hwa-ker-ee,"  which  may  be 
heard  a  long  way  off.  When  nestlings  are  out, 
he  is  one  of  the  most  busy  and  fussy  of  birds. 
He  helps  in  the  feeding,  and  seems  to  be  a  good 
and  careful  father.  But  when  the  young  ones 
are  grown  up  and  able  to  feed  themselves,  a  curi- 
ous thing  happens.  All  the  gay  red-wings  in  a 
neighborhood  come  together  in  a  flock  again. 


96  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

And  all  the  young  ones  and  the  mothers  stay  in 
another  flock. 

The  red-wing  is  a  very  nervous  and  uneasy 
fellow.  While  his  mate  is  sitting  he  is  always 
on  guard  to  see  that  no  harm  comes  to  her. 
In  the  picture  you  can  see  he  looks  much  con- 
cerned, as  if  he  had  discovered  something. 
Then  he  makes  a  great  row  if  any  one  comes 
near.  He  will  give  such  cries  of  distress  that 
one  would  think  he  was  hurt,  or  that  his  nestlings 
were  being  stolen  away.  If  the  enemy  is  a  crow, 
come  to  feed  quietly  on  the  meadow,  he  will  fly 
at  him,  try  to  peck  his  head,  and  annoy  him  till 
he  goes  away.  If  it  is  a  person  who  alarms  him, 
he  will  circle  about  over  his  head  with  loud  cries, 
and  now  and  then  swoop  down  as  if  he  meant  to 
attack  him.  In  fact,  he  shows  so  much  distress 
that  it  is  not  very  pleasant  to  stay  near  him. 

The  young  red-wing  is  just  as  uneasy  and 
fussy  as  his  papa.  As  soon  as  he  is  able  to  get 
out  of  the  nest,  he  scrambles  about  in  the  bushes. 
He  never  stays  two  minutes  in  one  place,  and 
every  time  his  mother  comes  with  food  she  has 
to  hunt  him  up  before  she  can  give  it  to  him. 

The  red-wing  is  fond  of  green  corn,  and  is 
often  shot  by  farmers,  but  he  is  also  a  famous 
insect  eater,  and  earns  all  the  corn  he  gets.  He 
eats  numbers  of  cut-worms,  and  other  insects, 


THE  BLACKBIRD  FAMILY  97 

and  in  some  of  the  prairie  States  he  does  great 
good  by  eating  locusts  and  their  eggs.  Besides 
these,  he  likes  variety,  and  is  fond  of  the  seeds 
of  weeds.  Ragweed  and  smartweed  seeds  are 
dainties  to  him  as  some  nuts  are  to  you,  and  he 
eats  a  great  many.  So  unless  a  large  flock  comes 
to  one  place  to  disturb  the  crops,  you  may  be 
sure  they  do  more  good  than  harm.  So  says  the 
Department  I  told  you  about. 

The  young  red-winged  blackbird  is  a  droll 
fellow,  and  has  decided  notions  of  his  own.  Mr. 
Keyser  tells  a  story  of  one  he  picked  up.  He 
was  put  in  with  some  other  young  birds, — 
meadowlarks  and  catbirds.  They  were  all  babies 
together,  and  all  used  to  being  fed.  So  when 
the  little  red-wing  got  something  to  eat,  they 
would  open  their  mouths  and  beg  for  it,  in  the 
pretty  bird-baby  way.  At  first  he  fed  them, 
though  he  was  n't  much  more  than  a  baby  him- 
self ;  but  they  liked  it  so  well  that  they  coaxed 
everything  away  from  him.  He  soon  got  tired 
of  that,  and  at  last  refused  to  feed  them  at  all. 

This  little  bird  liked  to  play  jokes  on  the 
sober  young  meadowlarks.  His  way  was  to 
seize  one  by  the  wing  or  tail  and  dance  around 
the  floor,  dragging  his  victim  after  him.  The 
young  larks  scolded  and  held  back,  and  at  last 
they  learned  to  stop  his  pranks.  They  did  it  by 


98  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

throwing  themselves  over  on  their  backs,  and 
holding  up  their  claws  ready  to  fight. 

In  spite  of  this  naughty  fun,  the  young 
blackbird  was  really  fond  of  them.  The  larks 
slept  on  the  ground,  and  at  night,  when  the  little 
fellows  settled  down  on  the  floor,  the  red-wing 
would  often  leave  his  perch  and  cuddle  down  by 
them.  This  must  have  been  for  company  only, 
for  it  was  his  way  to  sleep  on  a  perch. 

The  COW-BLACKBIRD,  or  COWBIRD,  is  another 
one  of  this  branch  of  the  Blackbird  Family  who 
is  found  all  over  the  United  States.  He  is  shin- 
ing blue-black  all  over,  except  his  head,  which  is 
brown.  His  mate  is  entirely  brown.  He  is  not 
quite  so  large  as  a  red-wing,  and  he  too  is  a 
walker. 

This  bird  is  called  cowbird  because  he  is  fond 
of  flying  about  the  cows,  —  not  to  trouble  them, 
but  to  eat  the  insects  that  torment  them,  —  which 
is  very  pleasant  for  the  cows,  I  am  sure. 

There  is  one  queer  way  that  cowbirds  have, 
which  no  one  is  able  to  explain.  The  cowbird 
mother  does  not  build  a  nest  for  her  little 
family.  Yet  she  wants  them  well  cared  for.  So 
she  goes  slyly  about  and  lays  her  eggs  in  other 
birds'  nests.  She  generally  chooses  the  nest  of 
a  smaller  bird,  though  she  often  uses  one  belong- 
ing to  a  wood  thrush. 


THE  BLACKBIRD  FAMILY  99 

Most  little  birds  —  warblers  and  finches — ac- 
cept the  charge.  They  hatch  out  the  strange 
egg  and  bring  up  the  young  cowbird,  who  is 
bigger  than  themselves.  He  is  so  big  that  he 
usually  smothers  the  young  ones  that  belong  in 
the  nest.  So  he  receives  the  whole  attention  of 
the  little  mother  bird. 

Sometimes  other  birds  come  to  help  one  who 
has  a  young  cowbird  to  feed,  and  he  grows  big 
and  strong.  When  he  is  full  grown  he  joins 
a  party  of  other  cowbirds,  and  they  go  off  in  a 
flock  by  themselves. 

Some  small  birds  will  not  submit  to  this. 
When  they  find  a  cowbird's  egg  in  their  nest, 
they  go  away  and  leave  it  there,  and  make  a  new 
nest.  Or  they  make  a  new  story,  as  I  told  you 
the  yellow  warbler  does. 

The  cowbird  has  a  queer  little  song.  It  is 
something  like  "  cluck-see ! "  and  he  seems  to 
squeeze  it  out  as  if  it  were  hard  work  to  say  it. 


XX 

THE   MEADOW   STABLINGS 
(Icteridce)  —  Continued 

THE  meadow  starlings  are  short-tailed  birds 
who  live  on  the  ground.  They  have  long  bills 
and  mixed  sbrt  of  plumage,  of  browns  and 
yellows. 

Our  common  one,  called  the  MEADOWLARK  or 
OLD-FIELD  LARK,  though  he  is  not  really  a  lark, 
is  a  beautiful  bird.  He  is  larger  than  a  robin, 
and  his  mottled  feathers  are  set  off  by  a  bright 
yellow  breast,  with  a  black  crescent  under  the 
throat. 

This  bird  lives  in  the  meadows  or  pastures, 
and  walks  about  on  the  ground,  where  he  gets 
his  food.  When  he  wants  to  sing,  he  flies  up  on 
to  a  fence,  or  stands  up  very  straight  on  a  bit  of 
turf,  or  a  stone,  and  sings  away  a  long  time.  It 
is  a  sweet  song,  or  rather  several  sweet  songs, 
for  he  does  not  always  sing  the  same  one. 

The  mother  lark  looks  like  her  mate.  She 
makes  her  nest  on  the  ground,  and  a  snug  and 


MEADOWLARK 


THE  MEADOW  STARLINGS  101 

cozy  home  it  is.  It  is  none  of  the  open,  cup-like 
nests  that  anybody  can  see  into.  It  has  a  roof, 
if  you  please,  and  sometimes  a  covered  way  — 
like  a  hall  —  leading  to  it.  The  roof  of  the 
nest  is  made  by  drawing  the  grass  stems  over  it 
and  weaving  them  together.  So  it  is  very  hard 
to  find.  And  it  is  hidden  in  the  long  meadow 
grass  besides. 

You  might  think  the  little  family  would  get 
hurt  when  the  haymakers  came  to  cut  the  grass. 
So  they  would,  if  they  happened  to  be  there. 
But  lark  babies  are  out  of  the  egg  before  that 
time,  and  they  run  about  as  soon  as  they  can 
stand.  Sometimes  when  a  nest  has  been  dis- 
turbed, and  the  birds  have  had  to  make  a  second 
one,  the  little  ones  are  not  out  when  the  mowers 
come  on.  Then  there  are  apt  to  be  sad  times  in 
the  family.  But  I  have  known  mowers  who 
carefully  cut  around  a  nest,  and  did  not  hurt 
the  nestlings.  That  is  a  good  thing  to  do, 
for  the  birds  are  so  useful  and  such  fine  singers 
that  we  want  as  many  as  we  can  have. 

The  meadowlark  is  a  shy  bird,  and  so  is  more 
often  heard  than  seen.  His  song  is  charming, 
and  he  has  besides  a  strange  call,  a  sort  of  harsh 
sputter,  or  chatter,  sometimes  as  he  flies  over. 
No  doubt  he  has  many  more  ways  of  expressing 


102 


THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 


himself,  but  these  are  the  ones  we  most  often 
hear. 

The  WESTERN  MEADOWLARK  looks  like  the 
Eastern,  except  that  he  is  a  little  paler  and  grayer 
in  color.  He  has  the  same  general  habits,  but 
he  is  a  much  finer  singer.  The  song  is  wilder 
and  has  more  variety,  and  sometimes  it  is  very 
brilliant.  It  is  different  in  every  way  from  the 
quiet,  rather  sad  notes  that  make  the  Eastern 
bird  so  winning. 

The  Western  bird  is  not  so  timid  as  his  Eastern 
brother.  He  often  comes  into  the  towns  and 
sings  from  the  tops  of  houses.  The  finest  singer 
I  ever  heard  sang  every  day  from  the  peak  of  a 
low  roof.  His  song  to  his  mate  is  most  charm- 
ing. It  is  so  low  and  tender  one  can  hardly 
hear  it. 

I  once  saw  a  pair  of  the  Western  birds  nest- 
making.  The  little  builder  was  busy  filling  her 
beak  with  dried  grasses  and  such  things.  For 
these  she  had  to  fly  across  the  road  where  I  sat. 
Her  mate  went  with  her  every  time.  He  perched 
on  the  fence  while  she  gathered  her  beakful, 
watching  that  no  harm  came  to  her.  When  she 
went  back,  he  flew  across  with  her  and  perched 
on  a  tree  on  that  side. 


THE  MEADOW  STARLINGS  103 


All  the  time  he  was  singing  the  sweetest 
warble,  and  all  the  time  he  was  keeping  a  sharp 
watch  on  me.  In  the  West  this  bird  eats 
beetles,  grasshoppers,  and  the  disgusting  big 
black  crickets  that  do  so  much  damage. 


XXI 

THE    ORIOLE   BRANCH 

(Icteridce)  —  Continued 

IT  seems  odd  to  put  the  gay  orioles  into  the 
Blackbird  Family,  especially  as  they  don't  live 
on  the  ground  either ;  but  that 's  where  they  be- 
long in  the  books.  Orioles  live  in  the  trees,  and 
are  fine  singers.  They  have  sharp-pointed  bills, 
suitable  for  picking  tiny  insects  out  of  fruit 
blossoms.  They  have  some  of  the  family  color, 
black,  but  more  orange  color,  or  chestnut  red,  or 
yellow.  They  all  make  beautiful  nests. 

The  Baltimore  oriole  is  all  over  the  East,  the 
orchard  oriole  in  the  South,  and  the  Arizona 
hooded  oriole  in  the  West. 

The  BALTIMORE  ORIOLE,  who  has  several 
other  names,  such  as  fire-bird,  golden  robin,  and 
hang-nest,  is  a  very  showy  bird,  in  bright  orange 
and  black.  He  has  a  fine  though  short  song. 
His  mate  is  yellow,  and  brown  instead  of  black, 
and  has  a  sweet  song  of  her  own.  Both  of  them 
can  scold  as  well  as  any  birds  I  know. 


THE  ORIOLE  BRANCH  105 

The  nest  of  this  oriole  is  one  of  the  prettiest 
we  have.  It  is  hung  high  up  in  a  tall  tree, 
an  elm  or  willow  usually,  and  near  the  end  of 
a  branch,  where  it  swings  in  the  wind.  It  is 
a  deep  bag  made  of  plant  fibres,  bits  of  string, 
and  other  things.  The  whole  has  a  gray  tint 
and  a  silky  look,  which  make  it  very  attractive. 

While  the  mother  bird  is  sitting,  her  mate 
stays  near  and  sings  a  good  deal;  but  when 
feeding  time  comes,  he  works  as  hard  as  she  in 
stuffing  the  hungry  little  mouths. 

As  soon  as  the  nestlings  are  off,  they  go  away 
in  a  little  party.  Then  one  who  looks  sharp 
may  often  see  an  oriole  papa  going  quietly  about 
on  the  ground,  with  two  or  three  little  ones  after 
him,  still  calling  to  be  fed.  He  does  n't  sing  any 
in  these  busy  days.  But  sometimes,  after  the 
young  have  learned  to  feed  themselves,  he  will 
sing  again  a  little  before  they  all  start  for  their 
warm  winter  home  in  Central  America. 

It  is  an  anxious  time  in  the  bird  world  when 
the  young  are  leaving  the  nest.  Orioles  are  so 
nervous  and  make  such  an  outcry  over  their 
troubles  that  we  often  hear  them.  The  most 
common  accident  is  the  falling  of  a  nestling  to 
the  ground.  The  old  birds  make  so  much  fuss 
over  it  that  one  would  think  the  baby  had  fallen 
into  the  claws  of  the  cat,  at  the  very  least. 


106  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

They  fly  around  as  if  they  were  crazy,  shriek- 
ing and  calling,  for  they  are  very  fond  of  their 
little  folk.  The  youngsters  are  plucky  little 
fellows.  One  will  hop  along  till  he  comes  to  a 
tree,  and  then  try  to  climb  the  trunk.  If  he 
happens  to  hit  on  a  tree  with  rough  hark,  he  can 
do  pretty  well.  He  flutters  a  little  way  up,  and 
then  holds  on  by  the  claws  till  rested.  Then  he 
flies  a  little  farther,  and  so  he  goes  till  he  reaches 
a  branch. 

If  it  is  a  smooth  trunk  he  tries,  his  troubles 
are  great.  Sometimes  one  will  scramble  up  till 
he  comes  to  a  leaf  that  grows  out  from  the 
trunk,  and  hang  on  to  that  till  he  is  able  to  go 
on.  But  often  one  is  unable  to  keep  his  hold, 
and  falls  back  into  the  grass.  I  have  several 
times  picked  up  a  hot  and  frightened  birdling 
and  put  him  on  a  branch. 

A  lady  told  me  an  interesting  little  story, 
showing  how  helpful  birds  are  to  one  another.  A 
Baltimore  oriole  was  picked  up  from  the  ground 
with  his  wing  broken  so  that  he  could  not  fly. 
The  kind-hearted  people  fixed  him  comfortably 
in  an  attic.  They  intended  to  feed  him  and  care 
for  him  till  he  got  well  and  could  fly. 

They  left  him  there  with  a  window  open,  so 
that  his  wild  friends  could  bring  food  if  they 
wished.  A  little  while  afterward  one  of  them 


THE  ORIOLE  BRANCH  107 

•went  up  to  see  about  the  invalid.  Behold,  he 
-was  gone ! 

They  looked  for  him  everywhere,  for  they 
knew  he  could  not  fly.  Suddenly  they  noticed 
a  great  deal  of  oriole  chatter  out  in  the  yard. 
Then  they  looked  carefully  over  a  tree  near  the 
window,  and  there  they  saw  the  broken-winged 
bird  in  the  midst  of  quite  a  flock  of  others. 

Of  course  the  outside  birds  were  called  by  the 
captive,  and  they  must  have  carried  him  out  in 
some  way.  Birds  have  been  seen  to  carry  off 
one  who  was  wounded,  in  two  ways.  One  way 
was  by  two  birds  each  taking  in  his  beak  a 
wing  of  the  helpless  bird  and  so  flying  away  with 
him.  This  has  been  seen,  and  more  than  once, 
by  men  who  tell  the  truth. 

The  second  way  birds  have  been  seen  to  help 
another  was  by  one  getting  under  the  helpless  one 
and  so  holding  him  up  on  the  back.  This  also 
has  been  seen  by  men  whose  word  can  be  trusted. 
You  remember  I  told  you  such  a  story  about  the 
shrike. 

So  many  untrue  stories  are  told  about  the 
birds  that  I  am  very  careful  not  to  tell  you  any- 
thing that  is  not  strictly  true. 

If  you  live  in  the  South,  you  more  often  see 
the  ORCHARD  ORIOLE.  He  is  not  quite  so  gay 


108  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

in  his  dress  as  the  Baltimore.  He  has  chestnut 
color  with  his  black.  His  mate  is  different.  She 
is  olive  on  the  back,  and  yellow  below,  and  she 
has  bright  blue  legs  and  feet,  which  look  as  if 
they  were  covered  with  kid. 

The  nest  is  a  hanging  one,  of  course,  but  it 
does  not  usually  swing  like  other  oriole  nests.  It 
is  a  little  supported  at  the  bottom.  It  is  very 
beautiful,  for  it  is  made  of  one  kind  of  fine 
grass.  When  it  is  first  made,  its  green  color 
makes  it  hard  to  see  among  the  leaves.  And  as 
it  dries,  it  turns  a  rich  yellow,  like  bright  clean 
straw.  It  is  not  so  high  as  the  Baltimore's,  and 
not  hung  to  the  end  of  a  branch.  It  is  often  in 
an  apple-tree,  for  this  bird  likes  to  be  near  people. 

The  song  of  the  orchard  oriole  is  different 
from  the  Baltimore's.  It  is  longer,  and  has  more 
variety.  His  mate  sings  also.  Her  voice  is 
sweeter  than  his  and  not  so  loud. 

If  you  live  in  California,  the  oriole  you  know 
will  be  the  ARIZONA  HOODED  ORIOLE.  Some- 
times he  is  called  the  palm-leaf  oriole  for  a 
reason  you  will  soon  see.  He  is  a  beautiful, 
slender  bird,  having  bright  orange  color  with  his 
black.  He  wears  more  black  than  some  of  the 
family.  His  face  and  throat  and  tail  and  wings 
are  of  that  color,  though  the  wings  have  two 


THE  ORIOLE  BRANCH  109 

white  bars.  His  mate  is  yellowish  below  and 
olive  brown  above. 

This  bird  makes  the  regular  oriole  family 
cradle.  Sometimes  it  swings  free  like  the  Balti- 
more's, but  not  always.  It  is  made  of  slender, 
wiry  grass,  which  is  green,  so  that  it  is  hard  to 
see.  Sometimes  a  sort  of  thread  from  the  edge 
of  palm  leaves  is  used. 

This  bird  sometimes  selects  a  droll  place  for 
her  nest.  She  swings  it  from  the  under  side  of  a 
palm  or  banana  leaf.  You  know  a  banana  leaf 
is  long  and  wide,  and  makes  a  comfortable  shade 
in  a  hot  day ;  and  it  does  just  as  well  for  an  um- 
brella when  it  rains.  It  is  hard  to  see  how  a  bird 
can  fasten  a  nest  to  a  smooth  leaf.  But  Mrs. 
Grinnell  has  seen  it  done  in  her  own  yard,  and 
she  tells  us  how  the  little  builder  goes  to  work. 

First  she  takes  a  thread  in  her  beak  and 
pushes  it  through  the  leaf,  making  a  hole,  of 
course.  Then  she  flies  around  to  the  other  side 
of  the  broad  leaf,  and  standing  there  a  minute 
she  pulls  the  thread  through,  and  pushes  it  back, 
making  another  hole.  Thus  she  goes  on,  flying 
from  one  side  to  the  other  till  she  has  sewed  her 
bag  to  the  strong  leaf. 

Except  in  the  place  they  choose  for  their  nest, 
these  orioles  are  about  the  same  as  their  Eastern 
cousins,  and  oriole  little  folk  are  the  same  the 
world  over,  I  think. 


xxn 

THE    CROW-BLACKBIRD    BRANCH 

(Icteridce)  —  Continued 

THE  fourth  branch  of  this  family  is  of  crow- 
blackbirds  and  grackles.  They  have  a  right  to 
the  name  of  blackbird,  for  they  are  quite  black. 
At  least  they  look  so  a  little  way  off,  but  if  one 
gets  near  and  sees  the  sunshine  on  them,  he  will 
see  that  they  reflect  blue  or  green  or  purple, 
from  their  feathers. 

Then,  too,  like  others  of  their  family,  they  go 
in  flocks,  and  they  have  a  dignified  walk  on  the 
ground.  Some  birds  who  are  so  social  that  they 
like  to  live  in  a  crowd  prefer  to  go  a  little  apart 
to  nest.  But  these  birds  make  their  rude,  clumsy 
nests  all  close  together. 

Blackbirds  are  fond  of  corn ;  who  can  blame 
them  for  that  ?  Thousands  of  them  have  been 
shot  because  they  eat  it.  But  farmers  who  shoot 
them  forget,  or  perhaps  they  do  not  know,  that 
corn  is  not  the  only  thing  they  eat. 

Insects  as  well  as  birds  are  fond  of  corn,  and 


THE  CROW-BLACKBIRD  BRANCH  111 

it  is  n't  so  easy  to  keep  them  away.  The  birds 
eat  great  numbers  of  them,  such  as  grasshoppers, 
caterpillars,  beetles,  and  cut-worms,  besides  mice. 
All  these  creatures  eat  the  farmers'  crops.  So 
when  birds  destroy  them,  they  earn  some  of  the 
corn.  They  do  more  than  clear  the  fields  of  trou- 
blesome insects,  they  eat  great  quantities  of  the 
seeds  of  weeds  that  the  farmer  is  always  fighting. 

Blackbirds  are  most  often  seen  on  the  ground, 
walking  around  with  great  dignity.  They  are 
looking  for  food  in  the  grass,  or  in.  the  field  in 
ploughing  time.  When  they  are  closely  watched, 
it  is  often  found  that  they  are  not  in  mischief. 

Mr.  Warren,  State  Ornithologist  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, tells  a  story  which  shows  how  easy  it  is 
to  be  mistaken.  He  was  with  a  friend  who  had 
thirty  acres  of  corn  growing,  and  was  much 
vexed  to  see  blackbirds  walking  about  among  the 
young  plants.  They  seemed  very  busy  about 
something,  and  he  was  sure  they  were  pulling 
up  his  crop.  So  he  got  out  his  guns,  and  Mr. 
Warren  went  with  him  to  punish  the  birds. 

They  shot  thirty-one  of  them.  Then  they  be- 
gan to  see  what  they  had  been  eating.  In  all  the 
thirty-one,  only  seven  had  the  least  bit  of  corn, 
and  even  they  were  mostly  filled  with  insects. 
The  rest  were  stuffed  full  of  insects  which  do 
much  harm  to  young  corn,  mostly  cut- worms. 


112  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

The  farmer  had  killed  thirty-one  birds  who 
were  working  for  him  as  hard  as  they  could.  No 
money  could  hire  help  that  would  do  so  much 
good  as  they  were  doing. 

In  the  Eastern  States  we  have  the  CROW 
BLACKBIRD,  or  PURPLE  GRACKLE,  and  the 
BRONZED  GRACKLE,  whose  habits  are  the  same. 

The  purple  grackle  is  a  handsome  bird,  larger 
than  a  robin,  with  very  light  eyes.  His  plumage 
looks  black  in  the  shade,  but  when  the  sun  is 
on  it,  shows  rich  green  and  blue,  and  it  shines 
like  satin.  The  bronzed  grackle  shows  purple, 
and  blue,  and  green,  with  metallic  bronze  on  the 
back. 

The  purple  grackle  is  said  to  eat  corn,  and 
also  the  eggs  and  young  of  other  birds.  But 
what  he  eats  has  been  found  out  by  the  Agri- 
cultural Department,  in  the  way  I  told  you  of. 
It  is  given  out  by  them  that  he  does  not  do  so 
much  harm  to  nests  as  has  been  said,  and  among 
the  crops  he  does  good  enough  to  pay  for  all  the 
corn  he  eats. 

It  is  very  hard  to  see  just  what  a  bird  is  eating. 
It  is  not  even  safe  to  believe  all  we  think  we  see. 

The  only  time  the  purple  grackle  can  do  more 
harm  than  good  is  when  he  comes  with  a  big 
crowd  of  his  friends,  and  settles  down  to  spend 


THE  CROW-BLACKBIRD  BRANCH  113 

the  winter.  Then  he  should  be  driven  away 
from  crops. 

I  want  you  to  understand  me  about  this.  I 
do  not  say  that  these  birds  never  eat  the  eggs 
and  young  of  others.  What  I  do  say  is,  that 
there  is  plenty  of  evidence  to  show  that  they  do 
it  not  half  so  much  as  people  say.  I  have  watched 
birds  for  twenty  years,  as  closely,  I  believe,  as 
any  one  ever  watched  them,  and  I  never  saw 
any  of  the  bad  deeds  that  are  laid  to  the  blue 
jay,  or  the  shrike,  or  the  kingbird,  or  the  purple 
grackle.  They  may  be  guilty  occasionally,  but 
they  are  not  the  villains  they  are  often  said  to  be. 

Besides,  however  bad  we  may  call  a  few  birds, 
we  are  ourselves  worse.  Birds  kill  only  to  eat. 
Many  of  them  are  made  to  feed  upon  each  other, 
and  cannot  live  in  any  other  way.  They  kill 
quickly,  and  do  not  generally  —  if  they  ever  do 
—  torture  their  prey. 

How  is  it  with  us  ?  We  kill  for  sport,  or  for 
useless  show,  and  we  kill  in  a  way  that  often 
wounds  and  leaves  our  victim  to  suffer  tortures 
before  he  dies.  Do  you  think  it  is  fair  for  us  to 
say  hard  things  about  the  birds  ? 

In  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  west  of  them 
the  common  blackbird  is  BREWER'S  BLACKBIRD, 
sometimes  called  blue-headed  grackle.  He  is  not 


114  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

so  shy  as  his  brother  of  the  East.  He  is  amiable 
and  friendly  with  people,  and  as  familiar  as  the 
robin  in  New  England.  He  is  often  seen  in  the 
streets  of  towns.  He  will  come  into  yards,  and 
even  take  food  from  a  doorstep. 

Brewer's  blackbird  is  a  restless,  uneasy  fellow, 
like  most  of  his  family.  He  is  always  bustling 
about,  and  flying  hither  and  thither  with  rus- 
tling wings. 

In  summer,  these  birds  feed  mostly  upon  in- 
sects, which  they  find  on  the  ground.  They 
have  an  amusing  way  of  being  fair  in  their  feed- 
ing. As  they  walk  about  in  little  social  parties 
looking  for  food,  those  who  come  last  in  the 
string  find  the  insects  nearly  all  picked  up  before 
they  get  a  chance.  So  they  take  this  clever  way 
of  getting  their  turn  at  the  good  things.  Every 
few  minutes  those  in  the  rear  rise  and  fly  over 
the  heads  of  their  friends  and  alight  just  before 
them.  So  they  have  the  first  pick  for  a  while. 
Then,  in  a  few  minutes,  those  left  behind  fly 
over  their  heads,  and  take  the  lead  for  a  time. 
So,  without  any  quarreling,  each  one  has  a  fair 
chance  with  all  the  rest.  Other  birds  have  found 
out  this  way  of  playing  fair.  I  have  seen  great 
blue  herons  three  feet  tall  do  the  same  thing. 

In  winter,  when  insects  are  scarce,  the  black- 
bird turns  to  grain  and  the  seeds  of  weeds.  But 


THE  CROW-BLACKBIRD  BRANCH  115 

it  has  been  found  that  he  does  more  good  by  the 
weeds  he  keeps  down  than  harm  by  the  grain 
he  eats. 

Brewer's  blackbird  usually  nests  in  trees,  not 
very  high.  One  time  a  naturalist  going  about  in 
Arizona,  where  are  few  or  no  trees,  found  a  curi- 
ous thing,  —  a  good  many  blackbird  nests,  a  little 
settlement  one  might  call  it,  on  the  ground,  and 
all  strung  along  close  to  the  edge  of  a  steep 
bank.  At  first  he  could  not  see  why  the  birds 
had  chosen  to  be  on  the  edge  of  a  precipice. 
Then  he  remembered  that  horses  and  cattle 
roamed  over  the  country,  and  these  animals  are 
careful  never  to  graze  close  to  an  edge  which 
might  crumble  and  give  them  a  fall.  He  con- 
cluded that  the  birds  had  wit  enough  to  know 
that.  If  their  nests  were  out  on  the  plains,  they 
would  be  likely  to  be  stepped  on,  but  near  the 
edge,  they  were  safe  from  hoofs. 

The  common  call  of  Brewer's  blackbird  is  a 
harsh  "  chack ;  "  but  in  the  spring  he  turns 
musical,  and  serenades  his  mate  with  what  we 
must  call  songs,  because  songs  are  what  he  in- 
tends. They  are  droll  enough  to  listen  to,  and 
not  very  sweet. 

This  bird  is  about  the  size  of  a  robin,  with 
violet-colored  head  in  the  sunlight.  His  mate  is 
slate-colored. 


116  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

Birds  who  live  in  a  crowd  learn  to  be  fair  in 
their  treatment  of  one  another.  An  interesting 
story  is  told  of  the  way  a  flock  of  blackbirds  go 
to  bed  at  night.  They  come  to  the  roosting- 
place  in  little  parties  from  all  the  country  around. 
One  would  suppose  the  first  one  to  get  there 
would  choose  his  place  to  sleep,  and  let  the  last 
one  take  what  was  left. 

But  no !  as  they  arrive,  they  alight  in  some  big 
old  tree  outside  the  roosting-place.  When  all 
are  in,  they  fly  up  together,  circle  around  for 
a  while,  then  all  settle  at  the  same  time  in  the 
place  where  they  are  to  sleep. 


XXIII 

THE    CROW   FAMILY 

(Corvidce)  1 

THIS  is  a  large  family.  Some  of  our  most 
intelligent  birds  belong  to  it.  There  are  first 
the  crows,  much  larger  than  a  robin  and  dressed 
in  black.  They  have  long,  pointed  wings,  and 
tails  square  at  the  end.  They  live  in  a  crowd, 
and  walk  on  the  ground. 

Then  there  are  the  jays,  about  the  size  of  a 
robin,  all  bright-colored  birds.  They  have  short, 
rounded  wings,  and  long  tails  which  come  down 
almost  to  a  point  in  the  middle. 

And  then  the  magpies,  between  the  other  two 
in  size.  They  have  tails  longer  and  more  pointed 
than  the  jays,  and  are  dressed  in  black  with 
showy  white  markings. 

The  common  AMERICAN  CROW  is  a  bird  that 
everybody  knows.  He  lives  all  over  our  country, 
and  seems  to  like  one  part  as  well  as  another. 

1  See  Appendix,  16. 


118  THE  SECOND   BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

There  is  enough  to  be  said  about  this  bird  to  fill 
this  whole  book.  So  I  shall  not  try  to  tell  all 
about  him. 

The  crow  is  thought  by  many  people  to  be  the 
most  knowing  bird  in  America,  and  he  is  the 
one  who  has  been  most  abused.  He  does  some 
mischief,  it  is  true,  but  he  does  a  great  deal  more 
good.  So  say  the  officers  of  the  Department 
who  have  looked  into  his  food.  They  have  found 
that  he  does  pull  up  some  corn  ;  but  he  stuffs 
himself  and  his  family  with  thousands,  and  even 
millions,  of  grubs,  and  insects,  and  mice,  and 
other  small  creatures,  that  would  have  done  far 
more  damage  to  the  crops  than  he. 

Farmers  have  often  killed  or  driven  away  the 
crows,  because  they  thought  they  were  hurting 
their  crops.  But  sometimes  they  have  found 
out  their  mistake,  and  have  been  glad  to  get 
them  back  again. 

A  story  comes  from  the  West  which  shows 
what  I  mean.  One  year  the  farmers  were 
alarmed  to  see  a  great  many  crows  around  their 
fields.  They  had  never  seen  so  many  there.  Of 
course  they  thought  they  had  come  to  eat  the 
corn,  so  they  began  to  kill  them.  I  won't  tell 
you  the  ugly  story  of  the  war  against  the  birds. 
After  it  had  gone  on  awhile,  the  farmers  began 
to  notice  that  crows  were  not  the  only  ones  who 


THE  CROW  FAMILY  119 

had  come.  A  new  grub  that  they  had  never  seen 
before  was  on  hand.  There  were  millions  of 
them,  and  they  were  always  hungry.  Young 
corn  plants  seemed  to  suit  them,  and  when  corn 
was  gone,  they  began  eating  the  grass. 

It  never  came  into  the  farmers'  heads  that  the 
birds  had  anything  to  do  with  the  grubs.  So 
they  kept  up  their  war  on  the  crows  till  few  were 
left. 

It 's  easier  to  drive  away  birds  than  insects,  so 
the  grubs  went  on  eating.  There  were  no  crows 
left  to  trouble,  and  yet  the  crops  got  smaller 
every  year.  At  last  some  one  had  sense  enough 
to  see  that  the  crows  had  come  on  purpose  to  eat 
the  grubs,  and  that  they  had  driven  away  their 
best  friends,  the  most  useful  helpers  they  could 
possibly  have. 

When  they  saw  how  stupid  they  had  been, 
they  began  to  coax  the  birds  back.  They  sent 
out  and  had  crows  caught  and  brought  to  their 
fields  to  work  for  them.  The  birds  took  hold  of 
the  business,  and  made  short  work  of  the  corn- 
eating  grub,  and  the  farmers  learned  a  good 
lesson. 

You  may  think  it  strange  that  the  crows 
should  know  where  the  grubs  were,  but  birds 
are  very  sharp  to  find  their  food.  It  is  well 
known  that  when  there  gets  to  be  an  unusual 


120  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

number  of  insects  in  one  place,  more  birds  will 
come  to  feed  on  them.  Some  time  when  you  are 
in  the  country  when  grass  is  cut,  notice  how 
many  birds  will  come  to  eat  the  grasshoppers  and 
other  creatures  that  are  uncovered  when  the  hay 
is  taken  away. 

The  crows  take  the  same  fair  way  of  going  to 
roost  that  the  Brewer's  blackbirds  do. 

I  could  tell  you  stories  —  true  ones,  too  —  all 
day  about  this  bird,  and  his  services  to  the 
farmer.  We  all  know  how  wise  he  is,  and  how 
hard  it  is  to  trap  him. 

I  will  give  you  one  little  story,  to  show  his 
kindness  to  his  fellows.  Then,  when  you  have 
a  chance  to  watch  one,  I  hope  you  will  take  pains 
to  see  for  yourself  what  he  does  and  what  he 
eats.  Do  not  believe  all  you  hear  or  read  about 
him,  for  I'm  sorry  to  say  there  are  some  persons 
who  like  so  well  to  tell  a  sensational  story  that 
they  do  not  take  any  trouble  to  find  out  if  it  is 
true. 

The  story  is  this.  Two  crows  were  caught  and 
kept  in  a  large  cage  out  of  doors.  It  happened 
to  be  a  time  when  food  for  birds  was  rather 
scarce.  Some  one  noticed  that  the  birds  seemed 
to  eat  a  good  deal,  and  he  set  himself  to  watch 
them.  He  found  that  the  prisoners  in  the  cage 
were  giving  some  of  their  food  through  the  bars 


THE  CROW  FAMILY  121 

to  their  hungry  friends  outside.  Could  men  be 
more  unselfish  ? 

There  is  no  end  to  the  funny  pranks  that  are 
told  of  crows  who  have  been  tamed  and  lived 
with  people.  One  that  I  heard  of  liked  to  get 
out  in  the  yard  when  clothes  from  the  wash  were 
hung  out.  He  would  walk  along  on  the  clothes- 
line and  pull  out  every  clothespin,  carrying  each 
one  to  the  roof  and  laying  it  safely  away.  Of 
course  this  let  the  wet  garments  fall  in  the  dirt, 
and  he  was  scolded  well  for  his  mischief.  Then 
he  would  fly  up  to  the  roof  and  throw  every  pin 
down  to  the  ground,  as  if  he  said,  "  Well,  take 
your  old  clothespins ! " 

Another  tame  crow  was  very  fond  of  pulling 
over  a  work-basket,  and  scattering  the  spools  and 
thimbles  and  other  things  in  it.  One  day  he  got 
hold  of  a  paper  of  needles.  This  he  opened,  and 
then  went  on  to  hide  them,  which  crows  always 
like  to  do  with  everything.  He  took  each  needle 
and  pushed  it  into  the  bed,  as  if  it  were  a  cushion, 
and  hammered  each  one  in  out  of  sight. 

I  hope  you  know  the  BLUE  JAY.  He  is  a 
beautiful  bird  in  different  shades  of  blue,  set  off 
with  white  and  black,  and  with  a  fine  crest.  His 
mate  is  the  same.  This  is  the  jay  we  know  in 
the  East  and  South. 


122  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

He  is  a  noisy  bird,  full  of  fun  and  antics.  He 
makes  himself  heard  wherever  he  goes.  This  has 
given  him  the  name  of  being  quarrelsome.  It  is 
often  said  that  he  is  always  fighting.  But  that 
is  a  mistake,  made  because  people  do  not  look 
closely  enough.  He  is  boisterous  and  jolly,  but 
he  rarely  quarrels. 

There  is  one  time  in  his  life  when  he  is  as  still 
as  a  mouse.  Then  he  comes  to  his  tree  so  quietly 
that  you  cannot  hear  him.  That  is  when  there 
is  a  nest  to  look  after. 

The  nest  of  a  blue  jay  is  usually  not  very  high, 
in  a  tree.  While  his  mate  is  sitting,  he  takes  the 
best  care  of  her.  He  brings  food  to  her,  and 
often  sings  to  her.  This  song  is  very  low ;  one 
can  hardly  hear  it ;  but  it  is  one  of  the  sweetest 
of  bird  songs. 

No  bird  is  more  loving  to  his  little  folk  than 
the  blue  jay,  and  not  one  is  more  frantic  when 
anything  happens  to  them.  James  Russell  Lowell, 
the  poet,  loved  the  birds,  and  has  written  delight- 
ful things  about  them.  He  once  found  a  family 
of  young  blue  jays  who  seemed  to  be  in  trouble. 
He  had  a  ladder  brought,  and  went  up  to  the  nest 
to  see  if  he  could  help  them.  He  found  that 
thoy  had  got  caught  in  the  nest  lining,  and  could 
not  get  away.  They  were  full  grown,  and  the  old 
birds  had  worked  hard  from  morning  till  night  to 
keep  them  fed. 


BLUE  JAY 


THE  CROW  FAMILY  123 

As  soon  as  Mr.  Lowell  saw  what  was  the  matter, 
he  took  out  his  knife  to  cut  the  strings  that  held 
them.  At  first  when  he  came  near,  the  old  birds 
were  very  much  frightened.  They  flew  around 
his  head  and  cried,  and  were  going  to  fight  him. 
But  jays  are  wise  birds,  and  in  a  moment  they 
saw  that  he  did  not  mean  to  hurt  them.  So  they 
perched  close  by  him,  so  near  he  could  put  his 
hand  on  them.  Then  they  watched  him  while 
he  cut  the  little  ones  loose.  All  of  them  could 
fly,  and  they  did,  at  once. 

One  of  the  nestlings  had  been  so  tightly  held 
that  one  leg  was  withered  and  dead,  but  the  next 
day  Mr.  Lowell  saw  him  hopping  about  the  gar- 
den path,  on  one  leg,  while  his  parents  brought 
him  food,  and  took  great  care  of  him. 

The  blue  jay,  like  most  birds,  is  kind  to  others. 
One  man  found  a  little  flock  taking  care  of  an 
old,  blind  jay.  They  fed  him,  and  led  him  to 
water  to  bathe.  They  warned  him  of  danger, 
and  in  every  way  looked  out  for  his  comfort  as 
if  he  were  a  nestling. 

Besides  being  a  singer,  this  bird  is  a  mimic. 
He  can  imitate  the  songs  of  other  birds,  as  well 
as  many  other  sounds.  A  lady  once  had  a  blue 
jay  who  had  fallen  from  the  nest.  She  brought 
him  up,  and  he  was  very  tame.  She  told  me  that 
he  learned  to  sing  like  a  mockingbird,  and  did 


124  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

it  almost  as  well.  This  bird  was  very  fond  of 
her.  When  she  tried  to  give  him  his  freedom, 
he  would  n't  have  it.  If  she  slipped  away  from 
him,  he  would  sit  up  in  a  tree  and  scream  like  a 
lost  child.  Then,  when  she  came  into  his  sight, 
he  would  fly  down  to  her  shoulder  and  rub  his 
head  against  her  cheek  like  a  kitten,  he  was  so 
happy  to  be  back  with  her. 

The  blue  jay  is  a  useful  bird.  Dr.  Brewer 
says  that  one  pair  of  jays  will  feed  their  young 
in  one  season  five  hundred  thousand  caterpillars ; 
also  that  one  pair  of  jays  will  destroy  one  million 
insect  eggs  in  a  winter. 

Many  hard  things  have  been  said  about  this 
bird,  —  for  one  thing,  that  he  eats  eggs  and 
young  birds.  You  will  notice,  however,  that 
many  who  repeat  these  stories  about  him  say,  "  I 
have  not  seen  the  bird  do  so,  but  some  one  else 
has."  Testimony  like  this  is  worth  nothing. 
Such  things  are  copied  from  one  book  to  an- 
other because  it  is  much  easier  to  take  what  is 
set  down  in  the  books  than  to  go  out  and  see 
for  one's  self.  Often  a  story  which  has  no  truth 
in  it  is  said  over  and  over  till  people  believe  it 
because  they  have  heard  it  so  often. 

Believe  me,  the  blue  jay  is  not  half  so  bad  as 
he  is  painted,  and  he  has  many  lovable  traits  to 
make  up  for  what  he  does  do. 


THE  CROW  FAMILY  125 

Mr.  Keyser  brought  up  a  young  blue  jay  from 
the  nest.  He  put  him  for  a  while  into  a  cage 
with  two  young  orioles.  Like  all  young  birds, 
all  three  of  the  youngsters  were  hungry,  and 
expected  everybody  to  feed  them.  So  the  young 
jay  opened  wide  his  mouth,  and  waited  for  some- 
thing good  to  drop  into  it.  He  was  met  by  the 
two  orioles  with  their  mouths  wide  open.  There 
they  stood,  face  to  face,  all  asking  to  be  fed.  It 
was  a  funny  sight. 

Then  the  blue  jay  baby  was  put  into  another 
cage,  where  were  two  young  catbirds.  To  these 
he  was  very  loving.  He  would  sidle  up  to  them 
and  caress  them,  stroking  their  backs  and  wings 
with  his  bill.  He  insisted  on  sleeping  between 
the  two  on  the  perch.  He  looked  very  droll 
with  a  small  bird  on  each  side  of  him,  all  snug- 
gled up  together. 

After  a  while  the  blue  jay  had  a  whole  cage  to 
himself.  Then  the  other  cages  were  moved  to 
the  front  porch,  and  he  was  left  alone  on  the 
back  porch.  This  did  not  please  him  at  all ;  he 
was  lonely.  He  called  and  cried  and  fretted 
about  till  he  was  placed  beside  the  others.  Then 
he  gave  a  cry  of  joy,  and  really  squealed  witfr 
delight. 

The  West  is  richer  than  the  East  in  jaya 


126  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

There  are  several  in  the  Rocky  Mountains  and 
California.  STELLER'S  JAY  is  said  to  represent 
the  Eastern  bird  I  have  been  telling  about.  He 
is  different  in  looks  and  larger.  He  is  darker 
blue,  with  some  sooty  brown,  and  he  has  a  fine 
crest.  But  he  is  the  same  noisy,  jolly  fellow  as 
his  cousin  on  the  Atlantic  side  of  the  country. 

If  your  home  is  in  the  West,  beyond  the  Mis- 
sissippi River,  of  course  you  know  the  AMERICAN 
MAGPIE.  He  is  a  large,  splendid  fellow,  who 
looks  especially  fine  when  he  is  flying  over  your 
head. 

The  magpie  is  all  in  black  and  white  :  white 
below  and  in  shoulder  patches,  and  black  on  the 
breast  and  above.  In  the  sunlight  he  shows  pur- 
ple and  blue  and  green  shades  over  the  black. 
He  has  a  very  long  tail,  which  is  wide  in  the  mid- 
dle and  runs  down  almost  to  a  point  at  the  end. 
This  is  very  showy,  when  he  spreads  it  wide  in 
flying. 

In  California  the  magpie  shows  a  curious  varia- 
tion. On  one  side  of  the  mountains  the  magpie 
has  a  yellow  bill,  but  the  magpie  on  the  other 
side  has  a  black  one,  though  in  every  other  way 
they  seem  to  be  the  same. 

The  magpie  is  a  social  bird.  Even  in  nesting 
time  he  likes  plenty  of  neighbors.  A  party  of 


AMERICAN  MAGPIE 


THE  CROW  FAMILY  127 

them  will  settle  in  a  little  grove  and  build  several 
nests  in  it.  The  nests  of  this  bird  are  the 
queerest  bird  homes  you  ever  saw.  They  look 
like  big  covered  baskets.  They  are  half  the  size 
of  a  bushel  basket,  and  made  of  sticks  outside. 
There  is  an  opening  on  each  side  for  the  bird  to 
go  in  and  out.  Those  I  have  seen  were  in  the 
tops  of  low  trees. 

The  beautiful  tail  of  the  magpie  seems  to  be  a 
great  care  to  him.  When  he  flies, — as  I  said,- — 
he  spreads  it  wide  and  makes  a  great  show  with 
it.  When  he  is  going  about  on  a  tree,  he  jerks 
and  twitches  it  all  the  time.  No  doubt  every 
jerk  means  something,  if  we  could  only  under- 
stand. When  on  the  ground,  he  holds  the  pre- 
cious tail  up  carefully,  so  that  it  shall  not  touch 
the  earth.  He  is  a  very  dignified  bird  when 
walking  about  in  this  way,  looking  for  the  grubs, 
grasshoppers,  crickets,  and  other  creatures  on 
which  he  feeds.  But  sometimes  he  has  no  dig- 
nity at  all.  He  scolds,  and  screams,  and  acts 
like  a  bad  child.  He  is  n't  particular  about  his 
food.  He  will  eat  almost  anything,  even  scraps 
from  a  kitchen. 

Major  Bendire  tells  a  comical  story  of  the 
cunning  of  some  magpies  in  getting  food  away 
from  a  dog.  The  dog  carried  his  bone  with 
some  meat  on  it  to  the  lawn  in  front  of  the 


128  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

major's  tent,  and  lay  down  to  enjoy  it,  dog-fash- 
ion. In  a  minute  or  two,  a  little  party  of  six 
magpies  came  around,  probably  hoping  to  be 
invited  to  dinner.  The  dog  did  not  take  the 
hint,  but  went  on  gnawing. 

Then  the  birds  seemed  to  consider,  and  after 
a  few  minutes  they  placed  themselves  around  the 
dog.  One  stood  right  in  front  of  his  nose  about 
two  feet  away.  Another  one  took  his  place  close 
to  the  dog's  tail,  while  two  stood  on  each  side. 

When  all  the  birds  were  ready,  the  one  by  the 
tail  gave  it  a  sharp  peck.  No  dog  could  stand 
that  insult.  The  victim  forgot  his  bone,  wheeled 
around,  and  dashed  after  that  bird.  He  did  not 
catch  him  with  the  first  grab,  and  the  wily  bird 
fluttered  away.  He  did  not  go  fast  enough  to 
show  the  dog  he  could  not  catch  him,  but  he 
led  him  on  and  kept  him  eager  to  get  at  him  as 
long  as  he  could. 

But  what  happened  to  the  dog's  dinner  all 
this  time  ?  Of  course  you  have  guessed  that  the 
instant  the  dog  left,  the  five  hungry  magpies 
pounced  upon  the  bone.  They  did  n't  mind  eat- 
ing at  the  second  table.  They  knew  their  time 
was  short,  and  they  made  good  use  of  it.  I  'm 
afraid  they  "  gobbled." 

When  the  dog  saw  that  he  could  n't  catch  the 
magpie,  he  thought  of  his  dinner,  and  came 


THE  CROW  FAMILY  129 

back.  The  birds  stepped  one  side,  and  he  took 
his  place  again. 

Of  course  the  birds  were  not  half  satisfied,  and 
besides,  one  of  them  had  not  had  even  a  taste. 
So  they  made  ready  to  play  the  little  trick  again. 
Now  see  their  fair  play  with  one  another  !  The 
bird  who  had  coaxed  the  dog  away  had  his 
turn  at  the  head  of  the  table,  while  another 
one  did  the  teasing.  They  repeated  this  several 
times,  and  each  time  a  different  bird  led  the  dog 
away. 

The  major  was  a  trained  observer,  and  he 
could  tell  the  birds  apart.  One  had  a  longer 
tail,  another  had  a  broken  feather,  and  another 
was  smaller.  So  he  could  easily  see  that  each 
time  a  different  bird  had  the  best  chance.  He 
was  sure  they  had  planned  the  whole  thing  out. 

I  once  had  a  chance  to  study  the  ways  of 
some  magpies.  The  birds  were  busy  in  their 
nests,  and  I  was  well  hidden  and  quiet,  so  they 
did  not  see  me.  I  heard  much  soft,  gentle  talk 
from  them,  and  at  last  a  sweet  song.  I  was 
much  surprised  at  this,  and  hoped  to  know  a 
good  deal  more  about  them,  but  the  next  time 
I  called  on  them,  they  saw  me.  Such  a  row  as 
they  made  !  They  flew  around  my  head,  shout- 
ing and  screaming  at  me,  till  I  was  glad  to  get 
out  of  the  grove.  I  could  not  blame  the  birds, 


130  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

for  magpies  are  much  prized  as  cage-birds. 
They  readily  learn  to  talk,  and  are  intelligent 
and  interesting  pets,  so  that  the  nests  are  robbed 
all  the  time.  Of  course  they  are  ready  to  fight 
for  their  little  oneSo 


XXIV 

THE   LARK   FAMILY 

• 

(Alaudidce)1 

THERE  are  a  good  many  kinds  of  larks  in  the 
world,  but  only  one  comes  to  us,  the  HORNED 
LARK,  or  shore  lark.  He  differs  a  little  in  color 
in  the  various  places  he  is  found  over  our  broad 
country,  but  not  enough  to  call  him  another 
species. 

In  places  where  there  is  a  great  deal  of  rain, 
birds  take  on  a  slightly  different  shade  from  their 
brothers  who  live  in  dry  places.  So  there  are 
several  varieties  of  the  horned  lark.  But  dress 
isn't  everything,  and,  after  all,  he  is  the  same 
bird  in  habits  and  manners  wherever  we  find 
him  in  the  United  States.  He  is  streaked  brown 
on  the  back,  and  white  below,  with  yellow  throat 
and  black  and  white  markings. 

The  way  you  may  always  know  a  PRAIRIE 
HORNED  LARK,  of  whom  I  will  speak,  is  by  the 

1  See  Appendix,  17. 


132  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

pretty  little  tufts  of  feathers  that  stand  up  on 
his  head  like  horns,  and  the  very  long  nail  on 
his  hind  toe. 

Another  way  you  may  know  this  bird  is  that 
he  lives  on  the  ground,  and  never  perches  in  a 
tree.  Sometimes  he  gets  up  on  a  fence  to  sing, 
but  he  likes  best  to  run  along  the  road,  or  in  a 
field,  and  he  never  —  never  hops.  The  place  to 
look  for  him  is  a  field  or  pasture,  or  on  a  country 
road. 

When  insects  are  abroad,  he  eats  the  more 
dainty  small  ones,  young  grasshoppers  and  lo- 
custs before  they  get  big  and  tough,  small 
beetles  and  larvae ;  and  baby  larks  are  fed  on 
them.  But  he  doesn't  starve  when  they  are 
gone ;  he  is  fond  of  seeds  of  weeds  and  grasses. 

The  nest  of  the  horned  lark  is  on  the  ground, 
and  the  little  mother  is  very  clever  in  hiding  it, 
and  not  showing  people  where  it  is.  Many  birds, 
you  know,  will  stay  on  the  nest  till  one  almost 
steps  on  them,  and  then  fly  up  with  a  great  fuss, 
thus  telling  their  secret.  When  the  wise  little 

o 

lark  sees  one  coming,  she  quietly  slips  off  her 
nest.  Then  she  crouches  to  the  ground,  and 
creeps  away.  When  she  thinks  she  is  far  enough, 
she  rises  to  her  full  height,  and  begins  to  eat,  or 
to  walk  around  as  if  she  had  nothing  on  her 
mind,  and  there  were  no  such  thing  as  a  nest 


DESERT   HORNED   LARK 


THE  LARK  FAMILY  133 

anywhere  about.  No  matter  how  long  one  may 
stay  there  hoping  to  find  the  nest,  she  will  not 
go  back,  not  even  to  see  if  it  is  safe,  so  long  as 
any  one  is  near.  If  all  birds  were  so  wily,  there 
would  be  fewer  nests  robbed,  and  we  should 
have  more  birds. 

The  little  home  so  carefully  guarded  is  well 
made.  The  bird  scratches  out  a  little  hollow 
and  lines  it  with  grass  or  thistledown,  that  is, 
if  she  can't  get  what  she  likes  best.  Her  choice 
is  for  nice  soft  mullein  leaves,  which  she  pulls  to 
pieces.  These,  you  know,  are  thick  and  smooth, 
and  must  make  a  warm,  dry  bed  for  the  little 
larks. 

The  brave  little  mother  nests  so  early  that  she 
is  often  caught  in  a  snowstorm.  Nests  have 
been  found  with  the  bird  on  them,  when  the 
snow  had  to  be  brushed  away  to  get  at  her, 
actually  sitting  under  the  snow. 

When  the  young  larks  can  run  about,  and  be- 
fore they  can  fly,  the  father  takes  them  in  charge. 
Then  the  mother  sits  again,  and  hatches  out 
another  brood. 

The  horned  lark  sings  on  the  wing,  as  does 
the  skylark  of  Europe  that  we  Ve  heard  so  much 
about.  It  is  supposed  that  he  cannot  equal  that 
famous  bird,  but  so  few  have  heard  him,  it  is 
hardly  safe  to  say  so.  I  once  heard  a  horned 


134  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

lark  sing.  He  ran  across  the  road  in  front  of 
the  carriage,  flew  to  a  fence,  and  gave  an  ex- 
quisite little  song.  If  it  had  come  down  to  us 
while  the  singer  was  soaring  about  over  our 
heads,  I  think  few  bird  songs  could  have  ex- 
celled it. 

The  feather  tufts  which  are  called  horns  stand 
up  when  the  bird  is  excited.  Usually  they  lie 
back  nearly  flat  on  the  head. 

In  the  picture  you  can  see  one  of  these  birds 
in  his  usual  attitude,  walking. 


XXV 

THE    FLYCATCHING   FAMILY 

(Tyrannidce)  l 

LARKS  may  be  scarce,  but  we  have  plenty  of 
flycatchers,  and  they  all  look  very  much  alike. 
They  are  mostly  in  dull  colors,  and  they  have  a 
way  of  raising  the  head  feathers  which  gives 
them  a  little  crest.  Then  they  have  rather  thick 
necks,  and  they  sit  up  very  straight  on  the  perch. 

They  catch  living  flies,  as  you  see  by  the 
name,  and  they  have  their  own  way  of  doing  it. 
No  flycatcher  ever  scrambles  around  like  a  fussy 
little  warbler,  snatching  a  fly  here  and  there. 
Far  from  it !  It  is  a  dignified  family,  and  none 
of  them  ever  seems  to  be  in  a  hurry. 

The  true  flycatcher  way  to  get  a  dinner  is  to 
sit  still  and  wait.  The  very  babies  in  the  nest 
are  patient  little  fellows.  They  never  make  half 
the  row  over  their  dinner  that  young  robins  do. 
They  could  give  lessons  in  table  manners  to  some 
young  folks  I  have  seen.  And  waiting  seems  to 

*  See  Appendix,  18. 


136  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

be  a  good  way,  for  nobody  is  better  fed  than  a 
flycatcher. 

On  his  perch  the  waiting  bird  sits  perfectly 
still,  but  keeps  a  sharp  lookout  all  around  him. 
When  a  fly  or  other  insect  comes  near  that  he 
thinks  he  will  like,  he  dashes  out  and  catches  it 
as  it  flies.  Then  he  goes  back  to  his  perch  and 
waits  for  another. 

Some  of  the  family  have  the  habit  of  singing 
as  they  wait.  The  wood  pewee  drawls  out  his 
sweet  "pee-u-ee,"  the  phoebe  sings  his  sharp 
"  pho3-be  "  by  the  hour,  and  the  least  flycatcher 
snaps  out  his  "  chebec  "  till  we  are  tired  of  hear- 
ing him. 

Flycatchers  are  classed  among  birds  who  do 
not  sing,  but  several  of  them  do  sing,  —  not 
loud,  like  a  robin,  but  low,  quiet  songs  to  the 
mate  or  the  nestlings. 

One  of  the  best  known  of  the  flycatchers  all 
over  the  country  is  the  KINGBIRD.  He  is  a  little 
smaller  than  a  robin,  and  all  in  brownish  black, 
with  white  breast.  He  has  also  white  tips  to  his 
tail  feathers,  which  look  very  fine  when  he 
spreads  it  out  wide  in  flying. 

Among  the  head  feathers  of  the  kingbird  is  a 
small  spot  of  orange  color.  This  is  called  in  the 
books  a  "  concealed  patch  "  because  it  is  seldom 
seen,  it  is  so  hidden  by  the  dark  feathers. 


KINGBIRD 


THE  FLYCATCHING  FAMILY  137 

This  bird  does  much  good  by  eating  many 
insects.  It  is  often  said  that  he  eats  bees.  But 
a  curious  thing  has  been  found  out  about  this 
habit.  It  seems  he  has  a  choice  in  bees.  He  is 
fond  of  the  drones  which  make  no  honey,  and  so 
are  not  useful  in  a  hive.  He  will  hunt  drones  all 
day,  but  he  is  shy  of  a  honey  bee.  Do  you  know 
why?  The  bird  has  not  told  us,  but  we  can 
guess  that  it  is  because  the  honey  bee  is  armed 
with  a  sting,  and  can  make  it  very  uncomfortable 
for  any  bird  who  catches  her. 

There  is  another  reason  too  why  the  bird  may 
prefer  the  drone.  The  honey  bee  usually  flies 
low,  where  the  flowers  are,  while  the  drone  is  n't 
after  flowers  and  flies  higher  in  the  air.  The 
kingbird  sits  higher  than  the  honey  bee  flies, 
and  the  drones  are  the  ones  that  come  near  him. 

Another  insect  that  the  kingbird  is  fond  of  is 
the  robber  fly,  which  destroys  hundreds  of  honey 
bees.  That  should  make  every  bee-keeper  his 
friend. 

These  things  have  been  found  out  in  the  way 
I  told  you,  by  shooting  the  birds  to  see  what  they 
had  been  eating. 

Mr.  Bryant,  who  knows  birds  well,  tells  of  a 
bee-keeper  in  California  who  saw  a  great  many 
kingbirds  among  his  bees.  Of  course  he  thought 
they  were  eating  them,  and  he  killed  one  hun- 


138  THE   SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

dred  of  them.  On  looking  into  their  stomachs 
to  see  if  they  had  eaten  honey  bees,  he  found 
them  filled  with  drones.  They  had  been  working 
for  him  all  the  time,  for  every  bee-keeper  likes  to 
have  drones  killed. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  kingbird  is  annoying 
to  other  birds,  and  he  is  called  a  tyrant.  I 
wanted  to  know  if  this  was  true.  I  did  not  go  to 
books  to  find  out,  for  many  people  —  as  I  have 
told  you  —  do  not  study  for  themselves,  but 
repeat  what  some  one  else  has  said.  The  way  I 
took  to  find  out  was  to  notice  the  ways  of  every 
kingbird  I  could  see.  For  many  years  I  have 
watched  them  hours  at  a  time,  for  weeks  to- 
gether. I  spend  every  summer  among  the  birds, 
and  almost  everywhere  I  go  I  find  kingbirds. 

In  this  way  I  have  found  out  that  the  king- 
bird is  one  of  the  most  peaceable  of  birds.  He 
drives  strangers  away  from  the  tree  where  his 
nest  is,  and  so  does  every  other  bird.  The  crow 
he  seems  to  consider  his  enemy,  and  often  flies 
after  him,  but  excepting  that,  I  have  never 
seen  a  kingbird  disturb  any  bird  who  was  mind- 
ing his  own  business.  He  is  not  half  so  much 
of  a  tyrant  as  the  robin  or  the  hummingbird. 

The  kingbird  is  quiet  and  devoted  to  his 
family.  He  seems  never  to  tire  of  catching  in- 
sects. While  young  ones  are  in  the  nest,  he  may 


THE  FLYCATCHING  FAMILY  139 

usually  be  seen  from  morning  till  night,  sitting 
very  straight  upon  a  low  perch,  looking  for  flies 
of  many  kinds. 

Let  me  tell  you  a  little  story  of  a  kingbird 
which  I  can  assure  you  is  true,  for  a  gentleman 
whose  word  may  be  relied  upon  saw  it  near 
enough  to  be  perfectly  sure  of  the  facts. 

A  big  bird,  he  did  not  notice  what  kind,  was 
flying  off  with  a  nestling  robin  in  his  claws.  All 
at  once  a  kingbird  flew  at  him  so  fiercely  that 
he  had  to  drop  the  young  one  to  defend  him- 
self. The  youngster  could  not  fly,  and  of  course 
began  to  fall.  When  the  kingbird  saw  that,  he 
left  the  thief  and  flew  under  the  little  bird.  He 
held  it  up  on  his  back,  and  flew  carefully  to  the 
ground,  where  it  slipped  off  safely. 

When  a  kingbird  has  been  tamed  and  kept  in 
a  house,  he  has  been  found  to  be  a  very  knowing 
fellow.  One  that  I  heard  of  saw  that  the  people 
were  friendly,  and  he  lost  all  fear  of  them.  His 
greatest  pleasure  seemed  to  be  to  keep  warm.  He 
would  cuddle  up  to  a  lighted  lamp,  and  dearly 
liked  to  crawl  under  the  bedclothes.  This  pet 
was  quiet  and  dignified,  never  a  chatterbox.  The 
only  sounds  he  made  were  a  few  low  notes  like 
thanks,  when  he  was  fed. 

The  nest  of  the  kingbird  is  usually  placed  in 
a  low  tree  like  the  apple-tree.  It  is  made  of  any- 


140  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

thing  that  comes  handy.  I  have  seen  one  of  white 
wool  where  sheep  were  kept,  and  one  of  gray 
moss  on  the  seashore  where  it  is  found  in  plenty. 

The  Western  kingbird  differs  in  color  from  the 
Eastern.  He  is  more  gray,  with  under  parts 
bright  yellow.  He  is  said  to  be  more  social  and 
more  noisy  than  the  sober  Eastern  bird.  But  in 
other  respects  they  are  much  alike. 

This  bird  has  been  called  quarrelsome,  but 
persons  who  look  closely  at  birds  have  said  that 
what  careless  observers  have  called  quarrels  are 
really  play.  For  the  Western  kingbird,  the 
ARKANSAS  KINGBIRD  of  the  books,  is  a  rather 
jolly  fellow,  says  Major  Bendire. 

All  flycatchers  are  useful  and  should  be  care- 
fully protected,  says  the  same  well-informed 
writer. 

The  WOOD  PEWEE  is  another  common  fly- 
catcher. He  is  not  generally  seen  about  houses  like 
the  phoebe,  who  calls  from  the  peak  of  the  barn. 
He  may  be  found  in  the  orchard  or  the  edge  of  the 
woods.  There  he  will  stand  on  a  fence  or  low 
branch  and  sing  or  call  by  the  hour,  every  few 
minutes  flying  out  to  catch  a  passing  insect. 

This  bird  is  in  dark  colors,  with  whitish  breast 
and  two  white  wing-bars.  His  common  call  is  a 


THE  FLYCATCHING  FAMILY  141 

plaintive,  long-drawn-out  "  pee-u-ee  "  and  some- 
times "pee-ay,"  but  he  can  sing  a  droll  little 
song.  One  lady  who  watched  a  wood  pewee 
build  her  nest  heard  her  sing  to  herself  as  she 
worked  what  sounded  like  "  0-wee-wee-wee." 

The  nest  made  by  this  little  mother  is  very 
pretty.  It  is  most  often  on  a  dead  limb  where 
a  branch  starts  out,  making  a  broad  foundation. 
For  this  reason  the  bird  is  called  in  the  South, 
the  dead-limb  bird.  The  nests  are  not  all  alike. 
I  have  seen  many  closely  covered  with  lichen, 
and  some  made  of  gray  moss  so  thin  that  the 
eggs  could  be  seen  through  it.  Whatever  it  is 
made  of,  it  is  low  and  flat  like  a  saucer,  and  so 
much  like  the  branch  it  is  on  that  it  is  not  easy 
to  see. 

Like  other  bird  mothers,  the  wood  pewee  is 
devoted  to  her  nestlings.  She  will  shield  them 
from  the  rain  by  sitting  close  on  the  nest  and 
making  an  umbrella  of  herself.  And  when  the 
sun  comes  down  very  hot  on  them,  she  has  been 
seen  to  perch  on  the  edge  of  the  nest  and  spread 
her  wings  to  act  as  a  shade  for  them.  It  is 
pretty  to  see  this  bird  with  her  little  family  when 
they  have  left  the  nest  and  are  being  taught  to 
take  care  of  themselves.  She  makes  many  sweet 
little  noises  which  sound  like  talk,  or  a  sort  of 
whispering. 


142  THE  SECOND   BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

The  WESTERN  WOOD  PEWEE  looks  like  his 
Eastern  brother,  but  he  is  a  very  different  bird. 
His  dress  is  about  the  same,  and  he  catches  his 
flies  in  pewee  fashion,  but  his  voice  is  not  in 
the  least  like  that  we  hear  on  the  Atlantic  side 
of  the  country. 

The  Eastern  wood  pewee  has  a  low,  sweet 
voice,  of  which  one  cannot  get  tired.  But  the 
bird  of  the  West  has  loud,  harsh  notes,  so  dis- 
mal in  tone  that  they  are  painful  to  listen  to. 
His  song  is  almost  the  only  really  unpleasant 
bird  song  I  know. 

The  nest  of  this  bird  is  a  rather  deep  cup  sad- 
dled on  to  a  large  limb.  When  it  is  in  a  cotton- 
wood  grove,  it  is  covered  with  the  sticky  white 
cotton  from  the  trees.  It  is  very  pretty  when 
fresh,  but  it  soon  gets  soiled,  and  then  it  is  not 
nice  to  look  at  or  to  handle. 


XXVI 

THE    HUMMING   FAMILY 

(Trochilidce)1 

THIS  is  an  American  family,  and  no  country  in 
the  world  can  show  a  more  beautiful  one.  There 
are  more  than  four  hundred  species,  and  some  of 
them  hardly  bigger  than  a  bee.  All  of  these 
birds  have  brilliant  colors  that  are  called  metal- 
lic. That  is,  they  glitter  like  metal,  and  they 
show  different  colors  when  they  are  turned  dif- 
ferent ways. 

All  hummingbirds  fly  very  swiftly.  You  know 
how  they  go,  —  not  straight  like  most  birds,  but 
darting  one  way  and  another  so  quickly  they  can 
hardly  be  seen.  As  they  fly,  their  wings  move 
so  fast  they  look  almost  like  little  clouds,  and  we 
hear  the  low  noise  we  call  humming. 

Hummingbirds  eat  nothing  but  tiny  insects, 
and  the  honey  of  flowers,  which  they  suck  up 
through  their  long  bill.  They  take  their  food 
without  alighting,  for  they  can  hold  themselves 

1  See  Appendix,  19. 


144  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

still  before  a  flower,  with  the  wonderful  wings, 
as  long  as  they  choose. 

The  bill  of  a  hummingbird  is  much  longer 
than  his  head.  It  is  something  like  a  pair  of 
tubes  through  which  he  can  draw  up  the  sweet 
juices  he  likes.  The  tongue  is  long  too,  and  it 
can  be  pushed  out  far  beyond  the  end  of  the 
bill.  It  looks  like  a  stiff  white  thread. 

We  have  in  the  Eastern  States  but  one  species, 
the  ruby-throat,  but  there  are  several  in  Califor- 
nia. 

No  bird  is  more  charming  than  our  common 
RUBY-THROATED  HUMMINGBIRD.  He  is  most 
often  seen  flitting  about  among  the  flowers. 
But  now  and  then  one  may  catch  him  sitting 
demurely  on  a  dead  twig,  dressing  his  tiny 
feathers. 

This  bird  is  all  in  green,  with  a  brilliant  ruby- 
colored  throat,  which  looks  like  a  gem  as  he 
darts  about.  His  mate  is  in  green  also,  but  her 
throat  is  white. 

You  would  not  think  this  pretty  midget  could 
be  a  fighter,  but  he  is.  When  a  hummingbird 
finds  a  vine  full  of  sweet  blossoms,  or  a  bed  of 
bright  nasturtiums,  or  any  good  place  to  feed  in, 
he  claims  the  whole  of  it  for  himself.  He  tries  to 
drive  away  every  other  hummingbird  who  comes 


THE  HUMMING  FAMILY  145 

near  it.  Sometimes  two  of  them  will  carry  on  a 
quarrel  over  a  honeysuckle  vine  for  days. 

The  hummingbird  is  the  most  pugnacious  bird 
in  America.  If  he  were  as  big  as  a  crow,  he 
would  be  a  terror  to  man  and  beast,  for  he  is 
afraid  of  nothing.  This  spirited  mite  of  a  bird 
will  even  attack  an  eagle,  who  is  big  enough  to 
eat  him  at  a  mouthful.  He  beats  him  too,  for 
he  comes  down  on  top  of  his  head,  where  the  big, 
clumsy  fellow  cannot  get  at  him.  There  he  pecks 
and  pulls  out  feathers  till  the  eagle  is  glad  to  get 
out  of  his  clutches. 

A  hummingbird's  nest  is  one  of  the  prettiest 
things  in  the  world.  It  is  not  much  bigger  than 
a  walnut,  and  is  made  of  soft  plant  down,  usually 
of  a  yellowish  gray  color. 

Perhaps  you  don't  see  how  plant  down  can  be 
made  to  keep  in  shape,  without  twigs  or  grasses 
to  hold  it.  If  you  could  see  the  bird  make  it, 
you  would  understand  at  once.  She  brings  her 
stuff  in  small  mouthfuls,  and  works  it  into  a 
solid  mass  by  strong  efforts  with  beak  and  feet. 
She  pokes  and  prods  each  tiny  bunch  as  she 
brings  it,  till  she  makes  it  all  hold  together.  It 
is  a  sort  of  felt. 

Then  the  little  worker  covers  the  outside  with 
bits  of  lichen  picked  off  the  trees,  and  held  on, 
it  is  said,  by  cobwebs.  This  makes  the  nest  look 


146  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

exactly  like  the  branch  it  is  on.  So  it  is  very 
hard  to  see. 

It  takes  a  hummingbird  several  days  of  hard 
work  to  make  a  nest,  because  she  can  bring  only 
a  little  at  a  time.  She  does  it  alone  too;  her 
mate  has  not  been  seen  to  help  her  at  all. 

I  think  the  male  ruby-throat  does  not  help  in 
the  nest-building  because  the  little  mother  will  not 
let  him.  She  knows  just  how  the  cradle  is  to  be 
made,  and  she  does  n't  want  him  to  bother  her. 
She  likes  to  have  her  nest  to  herself  just  as  she 
likes  to  have  her  honeysuckle  to  herself.  I  don't 
say  positively  that  is  the  reason,  you  know ;  I 
only  guess  it  is. 

After  the  nest  is  made,  and  two  eggs  about  as 
big*  as  small  beans  are  laid,  the  hummingbird 
begins  to  sit.  When  the  nestlings  come  out  of 
the  egg,  they  are  about  the  size  of  honey  bees, 
with  bills  no  larger  than  the  head  of  a  common 
pin.  Twenty-one  days  they  stay  in  the  nest  and 
are  fed  by  their  hard-working  little  mother. 

When  the  twins  get  their  feathers,  and  their 
bills  are  growing  longer  and  longer,  they  sit  up 
across  the  top  of  the  nest,  side  by  side.  Then 
they  are  very  pretty,  and  not  at  all  afraid  of 
people.  They  will  let  one  gently  stroke  their 
backs.  They  will  even  answer  in  a  soft  murmur 
one  who  talks  to  them. 


THE  HUMMING  FAMILY  147 

Hummingbirds  are  never  so  afraid  of  people 
as  other  birds.  They  are  easily  tamed.  But 
they  should  never  be  caged,  for  they  will  not 
live  long  in  a  house.  They  need  food  that  we 
cannot  give  them. 

A  man  had  a  hummingbird  whom  he  kept 
alive  a  long  time  by  letting  him  go  free  when  he 
seemed  to  need  change  of  food.  He  would  fly 
off,  but  always  came  back.  After  the  bird  got 
to  be  very  tame,  the  man  brought  two  young 
hummingbirds  and  put  them  in  the  cage  with 
him.  He  did  not  notice  them  much  till  they 
began  to  droop.  Then  the  man  opened  the 
door  to  let  them  out. 

At  once  the  elder  bird  took  the  little  ones  in 
charge,  and  coaxed  them  to  fly  out  with  him.  He 
led  them  to  a  place  where  he  had  found  the  tiny 
spiders  these  birds  like,  and  showed  them  how  to 
get  what  they  wanted.  They  all  ate  their  fill 
and  then  came  back  to  the  house,  where  they 
were  well  contented  to  be. 

The  way  the  mother  hummingbird  feeds  her 
babies  is  curious.  When  she  comes  with  food, 
she  alights  on  the  edge  of  the  nest,  and  pulls  a 
little  one  up  so  that  she  can  get  at  it.  Then  she 
runs  her  long,  slim  bill  down  its  throat,  and 
pokes  the  food  in  with  little  jerks.  It  looks  as 
if  it  would  kill  the  youngster,  but  he  seems  to 


148  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

like  it.  Anyway,  he  grows  very  fast,  and  — 
as  I  said  —  in  three  weeks  he  is  beautifully 
feathered,  with  a  bill  as  long  as  his  mother's, 
and  ready  to  fly. 

A  lady  who  had  two  young  hummingbirds 
told  me  that  they  slept  so  soundly  they  were  like 
dead  birds.  One  could  take  them  up  and  carry 
them  about,  and  they  would  not  wake.  In  cold 
weather  she  often  wrapped  one  up  in  a  piece  of 
flannel  and  laid  him  in  a  soft,  warm  place,  and 
he  never  stirred  till  morning. 

The  way  she  got  this  pair  of  birds  was  inter- 
esting. She  was  walking  in  the  woods  and  broke 
a  dead  branch  from  a  tree,  to  use  for  something. 
On  turning  it  over  she  saw  a  nest,  and  strange 
to  say  two  little  birds  in  it.  She  had  been  hold- 
ing it  upside  down,  but  they  had  held  on  so 
tightly  that  they  did  not  fall  out. 

The  lady  did  not  know  what  to  do.  She  did 
not  want  baby  hummingbirds,  but  she  could  n't 
put  the  branch  back,  and  she  was  afraid  their 
mother  would  not  find  them  if  she  left  them.  So 
she  took  them  home.  She  had  no  trouble  to 
feed  them,  and  they  lived  with  her  six  weeks, 
and  died  by  accident  at  last. 

It  is  thought  that  the  male  ruby-throat  does 
not  come  to  the  nest  at  all,  but  he  must  have 
some  way  of  knowing  how  things  are  going  on. 


THE  HUMMING  FAMILY  149 

At  Mrs.  Wright's  summer  home  a  mother  hum- 
mingbird was  killed  in  a  hailstorm,  while  young 
were  in  the  nest.  At  once  the  father,  or  at  least 
a  male  bird,  came  and  fed  and  took  care  of  the 
nestlings  till  they  flew. 

In  California  one  of  the  most  common  of  this 
family  is  ANNA'S  HUMMINGBIRD.  He  is  green, 
with  a  throat  and  crown  of  changeable  colors, 
lilac  and  red. 

The  nest  of  this  bird  is  usually,  like  the  ruby- 
throat's,  of  plant  down  covered  with  lichens.  But 
some  have  been  found  made  of  the  blossoms  of 
the  eucalyptus,  or  gum-tree.  This  bird  is  as 
easily  tamed  as  the  ruby-throat,  and  seems  to  act 
a  good  deal  like  him. 

Mrs.  Grinnell  found  a  nest  in  her  yard  in  Cali- 
fornia. The  mother  allowed  herself  to  be  pho- 
tographed in  many  positions.  The  young  ones 
were  never  afraid,  and  did  not  mind  the  camera 
in  the  least.  Hummingbirds  never  seem  to  have 
any  fear  of  people. 


XXVII 

THE    SWIFT  FAMILY 

(Micropodidce) l 

SWIFTS  are  curious  birds,  with  strange  habits. 
The  one  we  know  by  sight  in  the  East  is  the 
chimney  swift.  Most  like  him  in  the  West  is 
Vaux's  swift.  His  ways  are  like  the  common 
chimney  swift's,  and  his  looks  nearly  the  same. 

The  CHIMNEY  SWIFT  is  often  called  the 
chimney  swallow,  but  it  is  very  easy  to  tell  one 
from  a  swallow.  One  way  is,  that  when  a  swift 
is  flying  about  over  our  heads,  he  looks  as  if 
he  had  no  tail.  The  tail  is  very  short,  not  half 
so  long  as  the  wing.  He  looks  more  like  a  bat 
than  a  bird. 

Then  the  swift  flies  in  a  different  way.  A 
swallow  soars  a  good  deal,  that  is,  moves  without 
beating  the  wings,  a  sort  of  gliding  through  the 
air.  But  a  swift  beats  the  wings  much  more  fre- 
quently. A  swallow  will  often  alight  on  a  tele- 

1  See  Appendix,  20. 


THE  SWIFT  FAMILY  151 

graph-wire  or  a  roof.  A  swift  is  said  never  to 
alight  except  to  sleep. 

This  bird  is  so  much  at  home  on  wing  that  he 
even  gets  the  twigs  to  make  the  nest  while  flying. 
These  twigs  are  the  smallest  ones  on  the  ends  of 
dead  branches,  and  are  easily  snapped  off.  The 
bird  flies  at  them,  snatches  one  in  beak  or  feet, 
breaks  it  off,  and  goes  right  on,  without  stopping. 

When  he  gets  his  twig,  he  carries  it  to  a  dark, 
sooty  chimney.  A  queer  place  for  a  home,  surely. 
They  used  to  choose  a  hollow  tree  or  a  cave  to 
live  in,  and  that  seems  much  nicer.  But  chimneys 
are  now  more  plentiful  than  hollow  trees.  And 
besides,  they  are  nearer  the  bird's  food.  So 
chimney  homes  are  now  the  fashion  in  the  swift 
family. 

To  make  a  swift  nest,  the  twigs  are  glued  to  the 
chimney  in  the  shape  of  a  little  bracket.  The 
glue  is  the  saliva  of  the  bird,  which  is  gummy, 
and  gets  hard  as  it  dries,  and  looks  like  isinglass. 

The  mouth  of  a  chimney  swift  is  very  odd.  You 
have  heard  of  "  stretching  a  mouth  from  ear  to 
ear."  That's  just  what  the  swift  does  every  time 
he  opens  his.  It  needs  to  be  big,  for  he  gathers 
up  his  food  in  it.  While  he  is  flying  around  in 
the  air,  he  is  busy  catching  tiny  flying  creatures, 
such  as  flies  and  beetles,  and  thus  keeping  the 
air  clear  for  us. 


152  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

The  tail  of  this  bird  is  another  queer  thing. 
It  has  no  soft  feathery  tips  like  most  birds'  tails. 
It  ends  in  sharp  spines,  like  needles.  These  are 
most  useful  to  brace  him  against  the  rough  chim- 
ney where  he  sleeps.  These  spines  are  really  the 
stiff  shafts  or  stems  of  the  feathers,  sticking  out 
beyond  the  plumey  part. 

The  chimney  swift  hangs  himself  up  to  sleep. 
He  fastens  his  sharp  claws  into  the  rough  bricks, 
and  props  himself  firmly  with  his  spiny  tail. 
Even  when  the  young  swift  is  but  two  weeks  old, 
he  crawls  out  of  the  nest  and  hangs  himself  up 
under  it.  He  seems  to  like  that  for  a  change 
from  forever  lying  in  a  narrow  bracket. 

Chimney  swifts  are  social  birds.  They  can't 
bear  to  be  alone.  They  are  almost  always  seen 
flying  about  in  small  parties,  and  calling  to  each 
other  as  they  go,  a  strange,  chattering  cry. 
They  are  of  a  sooty  color  suitable  to  their  sooty 
home,  and  the  pair  are  alike.  Vaux's  swift  is  a 
little  smaller  and  paler  than  the  common  chimney 
swift. 

The  young  swift  is  longer  in  his  nursery  than 
any  bird  of  his  size  in  the  United  States.  He 
is  four  weeks  old  before  he  ventures  out  of  his 
grimy  home,  though  before  that  he  will  come 
up  to  the  door  to  be  fed. 

A  late  writer  in  a  newspaper  tells  a  little  story 


THE  SWIFT  FAMILY  163 

showing  the  affection  of  a  chimney  swift  for  her 
little  one.  The  writer  had  watched  all  summer 
a  party  of  swifts  who  lived  in  one  of  his  chimneys. 
A  month  or  more  after  he  supposed  that  all  had 
flown  away  to  the  South  beyond  our  southern 
boundary,  where  they  spend  the  winter,  he  heard 
the  twittering  of  one  in  the  chimney.  He  took 
out  the  fireboard  and  found  there  a  young  bird. 
He  was  full  grown  and  able  to  fly,  but  he  was 
fastened  by  a  horsehair  to  the  nest.  This  had 
been  pulled  off  by  his  weight,  and  lay  on  the 
hearth,  holding  him  prisoner. 

The  little  fellow  seemed  to  know  he  was  to  be 
helped,  for  he  lay  still  while  the  man  looked  to 
see  what  was  the  matter.  His  mother  soon  came 
into  the  chimney  with  food.  She  took  her  place 
beside  the  man  and  waited,  while  he  cut  the 
strong  hair  and  set  the  nestling  free. 

Then  the  old  bird  went  to  work  to  teach  him 
to  fly.  It  was  an  hour  or  more  before  he  learned 
to  use  his  wings.  As  soon  as  he  did,  the  two 
started  off  on  their  lonely  journey  to  the  far 
South,  to  join  their  friends  \tho  had  been  gone 
so  long.  How  I  wish  we  could  know  that  they 
reached  them. 

Insects  were  about  gone  when  this  happened, 
and  this  swift  mother  would  have  died  if  she  had 
stayed,  but  she  would  not  leave  her  little  one 
to  starve. 


164  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

It  is  a  beautiful  thing  to  see  a  large  flock  of 
swifts  go  to  bed.  If  they  all  rushed  in  pell-mell, 
they  might  hurt  one  another.  They  begin  by 
flying  around  high  above  the  chimney  in  great 
circles.  As  they  go  around  they  sink  lower,  and 
the  circles  get  smaller  till  it  looks  like  an  im- 
mense whirling  funnel.  When  the  birds  form- 
ing the  lower  part  of  the  funnel  reach  the  top  of 
the  chimney,  they  plunge  in.  So  in  a  short  time 
the  whole  flock  is  in  and  no  one  hurt. 


XXVIII 

THE    GOATSUCKER   FAMILY 

(Caprimulgidce)  * 

THESE  are  queer-looking  birds,  having  their 
front  toes  tied  together  by  a  kind  of  webbing, 
and  almost  no  hind  toe  at  all.  The  mouth,  too, 
is  almost  as  odd  as  the  toes.  It  has  a  short  beak, 
but  is  very  wide,  and  it  opens  from  ear  to  ear 
like  the  swift's.  The  plumage  is  so  soft  that  the 
birds  can  fly  without  making  the  least  sound. 

The  two  most  common  goatsuckers  are  the 
whip-poor-will  and  the  nighthawk.  They  are 
both  as  large  as  a  robin,  and  stouter.  They  are 
dressed  in  dull  brown,  and  black  and  white,  mot- 
tled all  over.  If  you  just  glanced  at  the  two, 
you  might  think  them  alike.  But  they  are  not 
marked  alike,  and  all  their  ways  are  so  different 
that  there  is  no  trouble  in  telling  them  apart. 

The  WHIP-POOR-WILL  has  broad  white  tail- 
marks,  with  stripes  on  the  back,  and  a  narrow 

1  See  Appendix,  21. 


166  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

white  band  across  the  breast.  He  comes  out  only 
in  the  evening,  and  he  flies  low,  without  making 
a  sound.  He  rests  lengthwise  of  a  log  or  fence, 
not  across  it  as  most  birds  do.  His  feet  are  too 
short  to  clasp  a  perch. 

On  his  log  or  fence  the  whip-poor-will  sits  and 
sings  while  he  waits  for  his  supper.  You  all 
know  his  song,  his  lively  "  whip-poor-will  "  over 
and  over  many  times.  It  is  a  delightful  evening 
sound,  which  I  love  to  hear.  It  is  said  that  his 
notes  have  been  counted,  and  he  has  been  found 
to  repeat  them  several  hundred  times  without 
stopping. 

When  moths  or  other  creatures  which  fly  in 
the  night  come  along,  he  catches  them  in  his 
big  mouth.  But  he  is  not  obliged  always  to  wait. 
Sometimes  he  flies  near  the  ground  like  a  shadow, 
looking  for  prey,  and  he  often  hops  awkwardly 
along  the  road,  for  the  same  purpose.  He  picks 
up  straggling  insects,  and  in  the  West  locusts. 

The  whip-poor-will  mother  makes  no  nest. 
She  finds  a  little  hollow  in  the  ground,  among 
leaves  or  near  bushes  in  the  woods,  and  that 's 
good  enough  for  her  nestlings.  She  lays  two 
eggs,  speckled  and  mottled  so  that  they  look  like 
the  ground  and  leaves  around  them.  She  looks 
almost  the  same  herself.  You  might  walk  close 
to  her  and  not  see  her. 


THE  GOATSUCKER  FAMILY  157 

When  young  whip-poor-wills  come  out  of  the 
egg,  they  are  dressed  in  speckled  gray  down. 
They  cuddle  down  quietly  by  their  mother,  and 
the  whole  family  is  hard  to  see.  When  their 
eyes  are  shut,  they  look  almost  exactly  like  the 
earth  and  leaves  among  which  they  lie. 

If  a  whip-poor-will  nest  is  disturbed,  the 
mother  will  pretend  to  be  badly  hurt.  She  will 
tumble  about  on  the  ground  and  cry  like  the 
whine  of  a  young  puppy,  trying  to  coax  away 
the  one  she  fears.  If  she  is  too  much  alarmed, 
she  will  clasp  her  young  one  between  her  feet 
and  fly  away  with  it. 

Instead  of  the  common  whip-poor-will  of  the 
Northern  and  Middle  States,  the  South  has  the 
CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW,  who  is  somewhat  larger. 
The  West  has  the  POOR-WILL,  or  the  NUTTALL'S 
WHIP-POOR-WILL,  who  is  rather  smaller  and 
paler  than  either.  The  habits  of  all  are  about 
the  same.  They  are  called  solitary  birds.  That 
is,  they  are  not  found  in  parties  like  swallows  or 
crows.  They  do  not  sing  or  call  when  flying. 

These  birds  are  hard  to  watch  because  they 
come  out  in  the  dark,  and  can  then  see  so  much 
better  than  we  can.  So  we  know  little  about 
their  ways. 


158  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

The  NIGHTHAWK'S  looks,  and  all  his  ways,  are 
different.  He  wears  the  same  colors  that  the 
whip-poor-will  does,  but  they  are  arranged  in  an- 
other way.  They  are  put  in  bars  running  across 
the  back  and  tail,  and  there  is  a  great  deal  of 
white  on  his  upper  breast.  On  the  wing  is  a 
large  white  spot  that  looks  like  a  hole  across  it, 
when  you  see  him  flying  away  up  in  the  air. 
You  can  always  know  him  by  this. 

Then  he  does  not  act  like  the  whip-poor-will. 
He  is  a  high  flyer,  sailing  about  over  our  heads 
in  the  afternoon  or  evening.  He  is  not  silent 
on  the  wing.  Now  and  then  he  gives  a  strange 
sharp  cry  like  "  peent."  He  is  busy  catching 
flies  and  mosquitoes  as  he  goes.  Sometimes  you 
will  see  him  dive  head  first  toward  the  earth  as 
if  he  would  dash  himself  against  it.  At  the 
same  time  he  makes  a  loud  sound,  like  blowing 
into  the  bunghole  of  an  empty  barrel.  But  be- 
fore he  touches,  he  turns  and  skims  along  just 
above  the  ground. 

The  mother  nighthawk,  like  the  whip-poor- 
will,  makes  no  nest.  She  chooses  a  sunny  spot 
in  a  pasture  or  on  a  hillside  to  put  her  eggs. 
Sometimes  in  the  cities,  where  flies  and  other 
things  to  eat  are  so  plentiful,  she  takes  a  flat 
house-roof  for  her  nursery.  Many  pairs  of  down- 


NIGHTHAWK 


THE  GOATSUCKER  FAMILY  159 

covered  baby  nighthawks  are  brought  up  over 
our  heads,  and  we  do  not  know  it. 

The  family  name  of  Goatsuckers  was  given 
to  the  birds  from  the  foolish  notion  that  they 
took  milk  from  the  goats.  By  watching  them, 
it  has  been  found  that  when  they  are  so  busy 
around  the  goats  or  cattle,  they  are  really  catch- 
ing the  insects  which  torment  them.  So  they 
are  doing  a  kindness  to  the  beasts,  instead  of  an 
injury. 


XXIX 

THE   WOODPECKER   FAMILY 

(Picidce)  l 

You  may  generally  know  a  woodpecker  the 
moment  you  see  him  on  a  tree.  He  will  —  if 
he  follows  woodpecker  fashions  —  be  clinging  to 
the  trunk,  or  a  big  branch,  propped  up  by  his 
stiff  tail,  and  not  perched  crosswise  like  most 
other  birds. 

There  are  a  good  many  of  this  family  in  the 
world.  We  have  twenty-four  species  in  North 
America.  They  differ  from  other  birds  in  two 
or  three  ways.  First  their  toes  are  always  in 
pairs,  two  turned  forward  and  two  turned  back- 
ward, except  in  one  genus,  which  has  but  three 
toes.  So  they  can  hold  on  better  than  anybody 
else. 

Then  again  the  tails  of  woodpeckers  are  not 
like  most  birds'  tails.  They  are  strong  and  stiff, 
so  that  they  can  be  used  as  props  to  hold  the 
bird  in  the  queer  position  he  likes  so  well. 

1  See  Appendix,  22. 


THE  WOODPECKER  FAMILY  161 

Oddest  of  all  are  the  woodpecker  tongues. 
They  are  round,  worm-shaped  it  is  called,  and  ex- 
cept in  the  genus  of  sapsuckers,  very  long.  They 
can  be  pushed  out  far  beyond  the  end  of  the  beak. 
That  is  so  that  they  can  reach  into  a  deep  hole 
for  the  insects  they  eat.  They  have  little  barbs  or 
sharp  points  on  the  tip,  to  catch  their  prey,  and 
they  are  sticky  besides.  The  tongue  of  the  sap- 
sucker  has  a  brush  at  the  end  and  is  not  barbed. 

One  of  the  most  notable  things  about  a  wood- 
pecker is  his  bill,  which  he  uses  as  a  drill  and 
also  to  drum  with. 

Woodpeckers  are  made  to  take  care  of  the 
large  limbs  and  trunks  of  trees,  to  get  out  from 
under  the  bark  the  grubs  which  would  kill  them. 
They  are  perfectly  fitted  for  the  work. 

As  you  learn  more  about  birds  and  beasts,  you 
will  see  that  every  one  is  exactly  fitted  for  his 
work  in  life.  A  worm  is  as  well  fitted  to  be  a 
worm  as  a  bird  is  to  be  a  bird.  How  this  came 
to  be  so  has  long  been  a  study  of  the  wise  men, 
and  they  have  not  found  out  all  about  it  yet. 

The  largest  of  this  family  that  is  common  is 
the  GOLDEN-WINGED  WOODPECKER,  or  FLICKER. 
He  is  as  large  as  a  pigeon.  In  the  Eastern  States 
is  the  golden-wing,  in  the  West  and  California 
the  red-shafted,  who  differs  merely  in  the  dress. 


162 


THE   SECOND   BOOK  OF  BIRDS 


The  gold-winged  woodpecker  has  a  brown 
back  with  black  bars,  and  a  light  breast  with 
heavy  black  spots.  His  wings  and  tail  are  yellow 
on  the  inside.  He  has  a  bright  red  collar  on  the 
back  of  his  neck,  a  heavy  black  crescent  on  his 
breast,  and  black  cheek  patches  or  bars  running 
down  from  the  corners  of  his  mouth. 

The  RED-SHAFTED  FLICKER  has  red  cheek 
patches  instead  of  black,  and  omits  the  red  collar 
altogether.  His  breast  is  a  little  grayer,  and  the 
wing  and  tail  linings  are  scarlet.  Both  flickers 
have  large  white  spots  on  the  back,  above  the 
tail,  which  show  very  plainly  when  they  fly. 

These  two  varieties  of  the  flicker  are  found 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  Their  ways  of 
living  are  the  same,  and  what  is  said  of  one  will 
do  as  well  for  the  other. 

A  flicker  hangs  himself  up  to  sleep.  He  takes 
a  good  hold  of  a  tree  trunk,  or  upright  limb, 
with  his  grapnel-shaped  toes,  presses  his  stiff  tail 
against  the  bark,  and  hangs  there  all  night. 
When  he  flies,  he  goes  in  great  waves,  as  if  he 
were  galloping  through  the  air. 

The  nest  of  this  woodpecker  is  a  snug  little 
room  in  a  tree  trunk,  or  sometimes  a  telegraph- 
pole.  He  usually  selects  a  tree  that  is  dead,  or 
partly  so,  but  sometimes  he  takes  a  solid  one. 
The  little  room  is  cut  out  by  the  strong,  sharp 


THE  WOODPECKER  FAMILY  163 

beaks  of  the  pair.  The  door  of  this  home  is  just 
a  round  hole  rather  high  up  on  the  trunk.  A  pas- 
sage is  cut  straight  in  for  a  little  way  and  then 
turns  down,  and  there  the  room  is  made.  It  has 
to  be  of  pretty  good  size,  for  the  bird  is  fond  of 
a  large  family.  Five  or  six  and  occasionally 
more  young  flickers  have  been  found  in  a  nest. 

Fashions  change  in  the  bird  world  as  well  as 
in  the  human.  Woodpeckers  more  than  any 
others  are  changing  their  habits,  and  improving 
their  condition.  They  have  found  an  easier  way 
to  get  a  home  than  to  chisel  it  out  of  wood. 
Nowadays  woodpeckers  often  cut  a  hole  through 
a  board  which  admits  them  into  a  garret,  a  church 
tower,  or  the  walls  of  an  unused  building,  and 
make  the  nest  there.  Thus  they  save  themselves 
much  labor.  One  even  cut  out  a  home  in  a 
haystack. 

These  birds  have  changed  too,  it  is  said,  in 
their  notions  about  eating.  They  do  not  think 
it  necessary  to  dig  out  every  mouthful  from 
under  tree  bark.  The  flicker  feeds  on  the 
ground.  He  eats  many  insects,  but  mostly  ants. 
When  insects  are  scarce,  he  eats  many  wild 
berries  —  dogwood,  black  alder,  poke-berries, 
and  others  —  and  the  seeds  of  weeds. 

Young  woodpeckers  in  the  nest  are  fed  mostly 
upon  insects.  When  they  get  big  enough  to  climb 


164  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

up  to  the  door  of  their  snug  home,  they  stick  their 
heads  out  and  call  for  something  to  eat.  Then 
one  can  hardly  pass  through  the  woods  without 
hearing  them,  for  they  have  good  loud  voices. 
And  of  course  they  are  always  hungry. 

The  way  they  are  fed  is  hy  regurgitation. 
That  is,  the  old  bird  swallows  the  food  she  gets, 
and  when  she  wants  to  feed,  she  jerks  it  up 
again.  She  thrusts  her  bill  far  down  the  little 
one's  throat,  as  I  told  you  the  hummingbird 
does.  Then  she  gives  three  or  four  pokes  as  if 
she  were  hammering  it  down.  A  young  flicker 
does  not  seem  to  know  how  to  swallow.  A  lady 
once  picked  up  a  nestling  who  was  hurt,  and  to 
get  him  to  eat  anything  she  had  to  poke  it  down 
his  throat  herself. 

The  gold-winged  woodpecker  is  a  lively  bird, 
most  interesting  to  know.  He  makes  so  many 
strange  noises  that  I  can't  tell  you  half  of  them, 
and  his  ways  are  as  queer  as  his  notes.  He  does 
not  sing  much,  but  he  is  a  great  drummer. 
When  he  finds  a  tin  roof,  or  eaves  gutter  that 
pleases  him,  he  will  drum  on  it  till  he  drives  the 
family  nearly  crazy.  He  seems  particularly  to 
delight  in  waking  them  all  up  in  the  morning. 

He  can  sing,  too.  I  have  heard  a  flicker  sing 
a  droll  little  song,  not  very  loud,  swinging  his 
body  from  side  to  side  as  he  did  it. 


THE  WOODPECKER  FAMILY  165 

Another  thing  this  bird  can  do  is  dance.  Two 
flickers  will  stand  opposite  one  another  and  take 
funny  little  steps,  forward  and  back,  and  side- 
ways. Then  they  will  touch  their  bills  together 
and  go  through  several  graceful  figures.  This 
has  been  seen  several  times  by  persons  whose 
truthfulness  can  be  relied  upon. 

The  RED-HEADED  WOODPECKER  is  another 
common  one  of  the  family,  especially  in  the  Mid- 
dle States.  He  is  a  little  smaller  than  the  flicker. 
No  one  can  mistake  this  bird,  he  is  so  plainly 
marked.  His  whole  head  is  bright  red.  The 
rest  of  him  is  black,  or  bluish  black,  with  a  large 
mass  of  white  on  the  body  and  wings. 

This  woodpecker,  too,  has  partly  given  up 
getting  food  from  under  the  bark.  He  takes  a 
good  deal  on  the  wing,  like  a  flycatcher.  Some- 
times he  goes  to  the  ground  for  a  large  insect  like 
a  cricket  or  grasshopper,  and  he  is  fond  of  nuts, 
especially  the  little  three-cornered  beech-nut. 

The  red-head  is  beginning  to  store  food  for 
winter  use,  for  most  woodpeckers  do  not  migrate. 
When  beech-nuts  are  ripe,  he  gets  great  quanti- 
ties of  them,  and  packs  them  away  in  queer 
places,  where  he  can  find  them  when  he  wants 
them. 

Some  of  his  nuts  the  red-head  puts  in  cavities 


166  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

in  trees,  others  in  knot-holes  or  under  bark  that 
is  loose.  Many  he  fits  into  cracks  in  the  bark, 
and  hammers  in  tight.  He  has  been  known  to 
fill  the  cracks  in  a  gate-post,  and  in  railroad  ties, 
and  even  to  poke  his  nuts  between  the  shingles 
on  a  roof.  Any  place  where  he  can  wedge  a 
nut  in  he  seems  to  think  is  a  good  one. 

A  woodpecker  can  eat  almost  anything.  Be- 
sides insects  and  nuts,  he  likes  wild  berries  of  all 
kinds  —  dogwood,  cedar,  and  others  that  he 
finds  in  the  woods. 

The  nest  of  the  red-headed  woodpecker  is 
usually  cut  out  in  the  dead  top  or  limb  of  a 
tree.  In  prairie  lands,  where  trees  are  scarce,  he 
contents  himself  with  telegraph-poles  and  fence- 
posts. 

This  bird  is  rather  a  dainty  feeder.  He  does 
not  swallow  his  food  wherever  he  finds  it,  as 
many  birds  do.  He  likes  a  regular  dining-table. 
So  he  takes  it  to  some  place  on  top  of  a  fence- 
post  or  an  old  stump,  where  he  has  found  or 
made  a  little  hollow.  There  he  puts  his  nut  or 
acorn,  picks  it  to  pieces,  and  eats  it  in  bits. 

The  young  red-head  is  a  good  deal  like  his 
father,  only  his  head  is  brown  instead  of  red. 
A  queer  thing  happened  to  a  baby  red-head  in 
Indiana  one  summer.  He  was  found  on  the 
ground,  hopping  about  in  a  pitiful  way,  unable 


DOWNY   WOODPECKER 


THE  WOODPECKER  FAMILY  167 

to  fly.  The  parents  and  others  of  the  wood- 
pecker tribe  were  flying  about  him,  much 
troubled,  and  trying  to  help  him.  But  this 
young  one  had  been  hurt,  or  was  not  yet  strong 
enough  to  get  about.  He  acted  as  if  he  were 
half  paralyzed,  and  he  was  wholly  helpless. 
Once  while  the  little  bird  was  hobbling  about 
and  calling  for  something  to  eat,  and  no  one 
was  there  to  feed  him,  a  robin  happened  to 
notice  him.  He  took  pity  on  the  hungry  baby, 
and  brought  him  a  nice  worm,  which  he  took 
very  gladly. 

But  still  more  strange  was  the  way  the  family 
cat  acted  toward  the  little  stranger.  When  she 
saw  him  on  the  ground,  she  started  for  him. 
No  doubt  she  meant  to  catch  him,  for  she  was 
a  great  bird  hunter.  When  she  got  almost  up 
to  the  little  fellow,  she  seemed  suddenly  to 
notice  that  he  was  a  baby,  and  helpless.  At 
once  her  manner  changed.  She  went  up  to 
him,  and  actually  played  with  him  in  the  gentlest 
way,  not  hurting  him  in  the  least.  She  did  this 
several  times  before  the  bird  got  strong  enough 
to  fly.  This  is  a  true  story. 

The  CALIFORNIA^  WOODPECKER  takes  the 
place  of  the  red-head  in  California.  He  is  most 
interesting  because  of  one  habit  which  gives  him 


168  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

the  common  name  of  "  carpenter  woodpecker." 
This  habit  is  of  storing  sweet  acorns  for  winter 
use. 

Other  birds  store  acorns,  but  this  bird  has 
found  out  a  new  way.  He  drills  a  hole  in  the 
bark  of  a  tree  for  each  acorn  by  itself.  It  is 
generally  a  soft  pine  or  cedar,  and  sometimes 
thousands  of  acorns  are  put  in  one  tree.  Often 
a  trunk  will  be  filled  from  near  the  ground  up 
forty  feet.  The  acorns  are  driven  in  point  first, 
and  so  tightly  that  they  have  to  be  cut  out  with 
a  knife.  When  a  tree  is  filled,  it  is  carefully 
guarded  till  they  are  needed. 

Many  people  think  they  lay  up  these  acorns 
for  the  worms  that  sometimes  come  into  them. 
But  Mr.  John  Muir,  who  lives  right  there,  and 
knows  them  as  well  as  anybody  in  the  world, 
says  the  birds  eat  the  sound  acorns  themselves. 
Sometimes,  when  food  is  scarce,  Indians  go  to 
these  trees  and  steal  the  poor  birds'  store.  They 
have  to  chop  the  acorns  out  with  hatchets.  They 
often  take  a  bushel  from  one  tree. 

These  birds  are  more  social  than  most  wood- 
peckers. Often  a  party  of  them  will  be  seen  to- 
gether. In  his  flight  and  his  ways  of  eating  this 
bird  is  like  the  red-headed  woodpecker.  Like 
him  also,  he  is  fond  of  clinging  to  a  dead  limb, 
and  drumming,  hours  at  a  time. 


THE   WOODPECKER  FAMILY  169 

But  in  looks  the  Calif  ornian  and  the  red-headed 
woodpeckers  are  very  different.  The  Western 
bird  has  only  a  cap  of  bright  red.  His  back  is 
glossy  blue-black,  and  he  has  the  same  color  on 
the  breast.  His  other  under  parts  are  white,  and 
he  has  a  white  patch  on  the  wings,  and  another 
just  above  the  tail. 

The  smallest  of  our  woodpeckers  is  the  Downy 
Woodpecker,  who  is  not  much  bigger  than  an 
English  sparrow.  The  picture  shows  two  of 
these  birds.  In  "The  First  Book  of  Birds" 
there  is  a  picture  of  a  flicker  at  his  nest-hole. 


XXX 

THE    KINGFISHER   FAMILY 

(Alcedinidce)  l 

MOST  of  the  Kingfisher  family  belong  to  the 
tropic^  but  we  have  one  who  is  found  all  over 
the  United  States.  This  is  the  BELTED  KING- 
FISHER. 

The  belted  kingfisher  is  large  and  rather 
chunky.  He  is  dark  blue  above  and  white  be- 
low, with  a  bluish  band  across  the  breast.  He 
has  a  fine  crest  and  a  big  head,  and  he  sits  up 
straight  as  a  hawk. 

The  tail  of  the  kingfisher  is  short,  and  square 
at  the  end.  His  plumage  is  thick  and  oily,  so 
that  it  does  not  hold  wet.  This  is  very  impor- 
tant to  him  in  the  way  he  gets  his  food,  for  he 
is  an  expert  fisherman.  He  lives  alone,  or  with 
his  mate,  near  the  water,  —  a  lake,  or  pond,  or 
small  stream. 

This  bird's  way  of  getting  fish  is  to  dive  for 
them.  You  may  have  seen  him  splash  into  the 

i  See  Appendix,  23. 


BELTED  KINGFISHER 


THE  KINGFISHER  FAMILY  171 

water  out  of  sight,  and  in  a  moment  come  up 
with  a  small  fish  in  his  beak.  Then  he  goes 
back  to  his  perch  and  beats  the  fish  to  death, 
before  he  swallows  it.  He  swallows  it  whole  and 
head  first,  because  the  fins  might  stick  in  his 
throat  if  he  took  it  tail  first.  After  a  while  he 
throws  up  a  little  ball  of  the  bones,  scales,  and 
skin  of  the  fish  he  has  eaten.  It  is  said  that  the 
kingfisher  can  take  a  very  large  fish.  One  was 
shot  who  had  swallowed  a  fish  so  long  that  the 
tail  stuck  out  of  his  mouth,  and  could  not  get 
down. 

The  nest  of  the  kingfisher  is  in  the  bank  of  a 
river  or  lake.  The  birds  first  cut  a  passage  or 
hallway.  Sometimes  this  is  only  four  feet  long, 
and  straight.  But  when  stones  or  roots  are  in 
the  way,  it  will  be  much  longer  and  have  many 
turns.  At  the  end  of  this  passage  is  the  king- 
fisher nursery.  This  is  a  round  room  nearly  a 
foot  across,  with  a  roof  rounded  up  over  it.  It 
is  a  little  higher  than  the  passageway  so  that 
water  will  not  run  into  it. 

Sometimes  it  takes  the  birds  two  or  three  weeks 
to  make  one  of  these  nests,  as  we  might  expect 
when  we  think  they  have  only  beaks  and  feet  to 
work  with.  Usually  it  does  not  take  so  long. 
If  the  pair  are  not  disturbed,  they  will  use  the 
same  nest  year  after  year.  Sometimes  the  bed 


172  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

for  the  nestlings  is  of  dry  grass.  One  was  found 
in  which  the  bed  was  entirely  of  the  bones  and 
scales  of  fish. 

Mr.  Baily  has  told  us  about  a  family  of  king- 
fisher little  folk  whom  he  studied  and  photo- 
graphed. He  dug  down  to  the  nest  from  above, 
and  was  careful  not  to  hurt  them  and  to  put 
them  back  safely.  First  Mr.  Baily  took  a  pic- 
ture of  them  when  two  days  old.  They  were 
queer-looking  objects,  with  eyes  not  open,  and 
not  a  feather  to  their  backs.  They  were  not  so 
young  but  that  they  had  one  notion  in  their 
little  round  heads.  That  was  to  cuddle  up  close 
together.  They  were  not  used  to  much  room  in 
their  dark  cradle. 

When  Mr.  Baily  laid  them  out  on  the  ground, 
they  at  once  crawled  up  together  and  made 
themselves  into  a  sort  of  ball.  They  put  their 
bare  wings  and  their  bills  over  one  another,  and 
held  on  so  that  one  could  not  be  moved  without 
the  others.  After  they  had  sat  for  their  picture 
they  were  carefully  put  back,  and  the  nest  was 
covered  up  again. 

When  the  nestlings  were  nine  days  old,  the 
nest  was  opened  again,  and  another  picture 
taken.  The  little  ones  had  grown  a  good  deal  in 
these  few  days.  Their  eyes  were  open,  and  they 
were  fast  getting  their  feather  coats  on.  But 


THE  KINGFISHER  FAMILY  173 

they  were  just  as  fond  of  being  close  together  as 
before. 

After  this  the  birds  were  left  in  their  home 
till  they  were  twenty-three  days  old,  and  it 
seemed  about  time  for  them  to  come  out.  When 
the  nest  was  opened  this  time,  it  was  found  that 
the  family  had  moved.  The  old  room  was  filled 
up  with  earth,  and  a  new  one  made  farther  up. 
No  doubt  the  old  birds  thought  the  man  too 
curious  about  their  babies.  The  young  birds 
were  ready  to  fly,  and  two  of  them  did  take  to 
their  wings  when  they  came  to  daylight. 

There  is  a  very  old  fable  about  the  kingfisher, 
who  was  called  the  halcyon.  It  is  told  in  the 
first  book  that  was  ever  written  about  birds  (so  far 
as  I  know).  The  author  was  Aristotle,  a  Greek 
who  lived  three  hundred  years  before  Christ.  The 
story  is,  that  the  bird  builds  a  nest  tbat  floats 
on  the  sea,  and  for  seven  days  before  and  seven 
days  after  the  shortest  winter  day,  the  sea  stays 
calm,  so  that  the  nest  may  not  be  hurt.  During 
the  first  seven  days  she  builds  her  nest,  and  in 
the  second  seven  she  hatches  out  the  young. 
These  fourteen  days  were  called  halycon  days. 
You  may  find  more  about  this  curious  story  in 
the  encyclopedias. 


XXXI 

THE    CUCKOO    FAMILY 
(Cuculidce)1 

MOST  of  the  cuckoo  family  live  in  a  hotter 
climate  than  ours,  but  we  have  a  few  of  them. 
They  are  beautiful  birds,  with  some  peculiar 
ways. 

Cuckoos  are  rather  slim  in  form,  with  very  long 
tails,  and  bills  a  little  curved.  Their  toes  are 
divided  like  woodpeckers'  toes,  two  turned  for- 
ward and  two  back.  In  the  Eastern  States  we  have 
but  two,  the  yellow-billed  and  the  black-billed. 
Best  known  in  the  East  is  the  YELLOW-BILLED 
CUCKOO,  and  in  California  the  Western  Yellow- 
billed,  or  California,  Cuckoo. 

This  bird  has  several  names.  In  some  places 
he  is  called  the  rain  crow,  and  in  other  places  the 
wood  pigeon  ;  but  of  course  he  is  neither  a 
crow  nor  a  pigeon.  He  is  a  graceful  bird,  with 
plumage  like  satin.  He  is  a  soft  brown  above 
and  white  below,  but  he  is  so  shy  that  he  is  not 

1  See  Appendix,  24. 


YELLOW-BILLED   CUCKOO 


THE  CUCKOO  FAMILY  175 

so  often  seen  as  heard.  His  call  or  song  is  a 
loud,  yet  not  harsh  "  kuk-kuk-kuk  "  many  times 
repeated.  Sometimes  it  begins  slow  and  grows 
faster  till  the  notes  run  into  each  other,  and  then 
grows  slow  again,  ending  in  a  sort  of  "  cow-cow- 
cow  ;  "  but  it  does  not  always  do  so. 

The  cuckoo  does  not  manage  her  nursery 
affairs  as  other  birds  do.  Most  birds  lay  an  egg 
a  day,  or  every  other  day,  so  that  they  hatch 
about  the  same  time ;  but  this  bird  does  n't 
mind  if  several  days  come  between.  Thus  it 
happens  that  one  or  more  little  cuckoos  hatch  out 
before  the  rest  are  ready,  and  it  is  common  to 
find  little  ones  of  several  ages  in  the  same  nest. 
There  may  be  one  nearly  grown,  another  just 
beginning  to  get  feathers,  and  a  third  one  not 
yet  out  of  the  egg. 

There  is  another  droll  thing  that  may  be  found 
in  a  cuckoo's  nest.  When  the  feathers  begin  to 
grow  out  on  young  birds,  they  come  wrapped  in 
little  sheaths.  In  most  cases  these  sheaths  burst 
open  and  the  feathers  show,  when  they  are  a 
little  way  out.  But  in  this  family  it  is  different. 
The  sheath  does  not  open,  says  Mr.  Dugmore,  till 
the  feathers  have  grown  their  full  length.  Till 
that  happens,  the  youngster  looks  as  if  he  were 
stuck  all  over  with  white  pins  on  his  black  body. 

You  have   heard,  or   read,  that   the  cuckoo 


176  THE  SECOND   BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

kys  eggs  in  other  birds'  nests,  and  leaves  her 
young  to  be  brought  up  by  others.  Do  not  for- 
get that  the  bird  who  does  that  is  the  European 
cuckoo  —  not  ours.  Our  cuckoos  build  nests, 
though  very  poor  ones,  sometimes  hardly  more 
than  a  platform  of  sticks. 

This  bird  is  useful  to  us,  for  he  eats  some  of 
our  most  troublesome  insects,  —  such  as  tent 
caterpillars,  which  few  birds  like  to  eat  because 
they  are  so  hairy,  and  other  insects  with  spines 
that  are  poisonous,  and  so  generally  avoided. 

The  cuckoo  is  graceful  in  flight.  He  goes 
swiftly,  without  noise,  and  seems  to  glide  through 
the  thickest  foliage  with  ease. 

I  once  found  a  young  bird  tumbling  about  on 
the  ground.  He  was  trying  to  fly,  but  was  not 
able  to  go  much  more  than  a  foot  at  a  time. 
He  was  giving  strange  calls,  which  were  an- 
swered from  the  woods  beside  the  road  by  a  low 
tapping  sound.  I  thought  of  course  the  little 
one  was  a  woodpecker  and  his  mother  was  doing 
the  knocking.  It  was  so  dark  I  could  not  see 
him  well.  After  some  trouble  I  caught  him  and 
was  going  to  take  a  good  look  at  him  to  see  who 
he  was  before  I  let  him  go.  As  I  grasped  him 
hfc  gave  a  shriek,  and  out  from  the  thick  trees 
popped  a  cuckoo.  She  alighted  on  a  low  branch 
outside  and  gave  such  a  cry  of  distress  that  I 


THE  CUCKOO  FAMILY  177 

knew   at   once  it  was  her  baby  I   held  in  my 
hand. 

I  suppose  the  poor  mother  thought  I  wanted 
to  carry  the  youngster  off.  I  could  n't  bear 
to  have  a  bird  think  that  for  a  minute  ;  so  I 
opened  my  hands  and  away  he  went,  half  flying, 
half  scrambling  up  the  road,  while  the  mother 
slipped  back  into  the  woods.  In  a  moment  she 
began  again  her  hollow-sounding  calls,  which  I 
had  thought  were  woodpecker  tappings. 


xxxn 

THE   OWL   FAMILY 

(Bubonidce)  l 

OWLS  differ  from  all  other  birds  in  having  eyes 
that  look  forward  like  ours.  They  have  also  a 
broad  face,  which  is  made  to  look  even  wider  by 
the  feathers  which  stand  out  around  the  eyes. 

Owls  cannot  turn  their  eyes  in  the  sockets,  so 
they  have  to  turn  the  whole  head  to  see  to  one 
side.  Many  of  them  have  tufts  of  feathers  like 
horns,  which  they  can  stand  up  or  lay  down  as 
they  choose.  These  are  called  horned  owls.  An 
owl's  legs  are  covered  with  feathers,  sometimes 
down  to  the  toes.  The  whole  plumage  of  this 
bird  is  soft  and  fluffy,  so  that  he  can  fly  with- 
out making  any  noise.  This  is  important  to  him, 
for  he  lives  mostly  on  mice,  and  he  never  could 
catch  one  if  he  made  much  noise  getting  about. 

The  owl's  mate  looks  like  him,  and  —  what 
is  unusual  among  birds  —  she  is  larger  than  he. 
Because  they  come  out  in  the  evening,  when  we 

*  See  Appendix,  25. 


THE  OWL  FAMILY  179 

cannot  see  them  well,  we  know  very  little  of  their 
ways.  They  are  more  often  heard  than  seen. 
Their  voices  are  generally  mournful,  but  that  is 
no  reason  why  they  should  be  feared. 

All  birds  have  control  over  some  of  their 
feathers,  that  is,  they  can  make  them  stand 
up  or  lie  down  as  they  choose.  But  owls  have 
more  than  any  other  bird.  An  owl  can  alter  his 
shape  or  size  so  that  he  will  look  like  another 
bird. 

Mr.  Bolles  says  that  a  large  owl  can  change 
from  a  mass  of  bristling  feathers  a  yard  wide,  to 
a  slim,  sleek  brown  post  only  a  few  inches  wide. 
When  he  does  this,  one  cannot  see  him,  though 
he  may  be  in  plain  sight.  His  colors  blend  with 
a  tree  trunk,  or  stump,  and  he  can  stand  without 
stirring  for  an  hour,  and  likes  to  do  it. 

Mr.  Bolles  had  owls  in  the  house,  and  watched 
them  closely.  He  has  told  us  some  curious 
things  about  their  ways.  He  says  that  when  one 
steps  daintily  across  the  floor,  his  feathers  tuck 
themselves  up  as  a  lady  holds  up  her  gown. 

This  moving  of  the  feathers  sometimes  looks 
very  droll.  When  eating,  the  feathers  around 
the  mouth,  which  might  get  soiled,  draw  back 
out  of  the  way.  And  when  an  owl  wants  to  hide 
his  food,  he  stands  over  it,  and  the  feathers 
droop  down  like  a  curtain  to  screen  it  from  view. 


180  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

When  Mrs.  Bolles  wanted  to  sketch  an  owl,  he 
kept  changing  his  shape  all  the  time,  though  he 
did  not  seem  to  move  at  all. 

Another  man  who  had  a  pet  owl  says  that  the 
bird  would  stand  before  him  and  throw  back  his 
breast  feathers  each  side,  just  as  a  man  throws 
open  his  coat. 

The  owlets  come  out  of  the  egg  dressed  in  soft, 
fluffy  down.  In  some  of  the  family  it  is  gray, 
in  others  it  is  snowy  white.  They  are  carefully 
fed  and  reared  by  their  loving  parents. 

A  funny  story  is  told  by  a  man  who  wanted  to 
see  what  was  in  an  owl's  nest.  He  lifted  the 
mother  bird  out,  and  to  his  surprise  the  whole 
family  came  out  with  her.  She  held  on  to  one 
little  one,  and  each  one  held  on  to  the  next,  and 
so  he  had  the  whole  owl  family  in  a  cluster,  like 
a  bunch  of  grapes. 

The  SCREECH  OWL  is  the  best  known  of  this 
family.  He  is  found,  under  slightly  different 
forms,  all  over  our  country.  In  Florida  he  is 
smaller  and  darker  than  in  the  Middle  States.  In 
California  he  is  larger  and  grayer,  and  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains  somewhat  lighter.  But  he  acts 
in  about  the  same  way,  wherever  he  lives. 

In  the  East  the  screech  owl  is  found  in  two 
colors.  Some  have  reddish  feathers,  others  have 


SCREECH   OWL 


THE  OWL  FAMILY  181 

gray.  The  wise  men  have  not  yet  found  any 
reason  for  this  difference. 

The  screech  owl  is  badly  named,  for  his  song 
is  not  a  screech.  It  is  a  sort  of  trembling  sound, 
and  in  some  places  he  is  called  the  "  shivering 
owl,"  which  is  a  much  better  name  for  him  than 
screech  owl.  If  one  does  not  know  who  makes 
it,  it  is  rather  a  weird  song  in  the  dark  ;  but  if 
one  knows  the  pretty  gray  bird,  it  is  sweet  and 
pleasing. 

The  bird  comes  out  before  it  is  quite  pitch 
dark.  He  may  often  be  seen  against  the  sky, 
standing  on  a  branch,  bowing  and  swaying  back 
and  forth,  while  he  utters  strange  notes  of  many 
kinds.  He  has  plenty  to  say  for  himself.  But 
you  must  keep  as  still  as  a  mouse  if  you  want  to 
see  him.  If  he  can  see  to  catch  a  mouse  in  the 
dark,  you  may  be  sure  he  can  see  you. 

Generally  the  screech  owl  makes  a  nest  in  a 
hollow  tree  or  a  deserted  woodpecker  nest,  and 
comes  out  only  at  night.  What  he  likes  best  to 
eat  is  mice,  and  mice  too  come  out  at  night. 
The  way  he  eats  is  curious,  as  I  told  you  in 
«  The  First  Book  of  Birds." 

A  few  years  ago  a  screech  owl  went  through 
a  broken  window  into  the  attic  of  a  house  in  New 
Jersey,  and  lived  there  all  winter.  The  family 
were  bird-lovers,  so  they  let  her  stay.  She  liked 


182  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

it  so  well  that  the  next  spring  she  made  her  nest 
there  and  hatched  out  three  little  owls.  The  lit- 
tle ones  were  not  at  all  afraid  of  people,  and  a  son 
of  the  family  made  many  photographs  of  them. 

After  the  owlets  were  grown,  the  whole  family 
disappeared,  and  lived  out  of  doors  the  rest  of 
the  summer.  But  when  cold  Weather  came,  til** 
old  birds  came  back  and  stayed  all  winter  again. 
They  have  made  their  home  in  that  attic,  and 
reared  a  brood  every  spring  since.  They  are  al- 
ways very  social  among  themselves.  They  talk 
and  sing,  and  make  many  sorts  of  noises. 

One  of  the  queerest  of  the  owl  family  is  the 
little  BURROWING  OWL  of  the  West.  The  Flor- 
ida Burrowing  Owl,  found  in  Florida,  differs  only 
a  little  from  the  Western  bird.  The  burrowing 
owl  is  a  comical-looking  fellow,  only  about  as 
large  as  a  robin.  He  has  very  long  legs  for  an 
owl,  and  is  dressed  in  grayish  brown. 

This  bird  is  said  to  have  very  polite  manners. 
In  some  places  he  is  called  the  "  how-do-you-do 
owl."  He  is  always  bowing,  and  turning  from 
side  to  side,  and  seems  to  be  greeting  you  as  you 
come  near  him. 

The  burrowing  owl  likes  a  comfortable  home 
underground,  out  of  the  way  of  enemies.  In 
the  West,  where  he  lives,  prairie  dogs  are  plenti- 


THE  OWL  FAMILY  183 

ful,  and  they  are  always  digging  out  passages 
and  rooms,  more  than  they  can  use.  So  the 
owl  has  no  trouble  in  finding  empty  quarters  to 
live  in. 

But  in  California,  and  places  where  are  none 
of  the  digging  dogs,  the  little  owl  rooms  with 
some  of  the  ground  squirrels  that  burrow  there. 
He  must  have  an  underground  home  in  that  land 
where  trees  are  scarce,  and  he  has  no  fancy  for 
digging.  Even  if  he  wanted  to  dig,  his  feet  are 
not  fitted  for  it  like  the  feet  of  the  little  beasts. 

The  burrowing  owl  has  no  trouble  in  taking  a 
house  where  he  finds  one  to  suit  him,  for  he  's 
a  savage  little  fellow.  He  can  kill  squirrels  and 
prairie  dogs  much  bigger  than  himself,  and  even 
rattlesnakes,  which  take  lodgings  in  the  prairie 
dog  houses  also.  He  feeds  upon  all  these  crea- 
tures. He  eats  also  crickets,  scorpions,  and  many 
troublesome  insects.  This  makes  him  valuable 
to  farmers,  for  nearly  all  these  creatures  destroy 
his  crops. 

Remember,  too,  that  birds  have  great  appetites ; 
as  I  have  told  you,  they  eat  more  than  their  own 
weight  every  day.  In  that  way  they  dispose  of 
enormous  numbers  of  pests.  It  almost  seems  as 
if  a  bird  were  a  sort  of  eating  machine,  made  on 
purpose  to  work  for  us.  We  should  never  forget 
this. 


184  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

This  bird,  like  most  others,  makes  many  dif- 
ferent sounds.  His  song  is  a  soft  "  coo-oo," 
something  like  that  of  a  mourning  dove.  When 
a  stranger  comes  to  his  home  and  he  is  there,  he 
gives  a  rattle  which  sounds  like  a  rattlesnake. 
This  scares  people,  and  perhaps  animals,  away, 
for  no  one  wants  to  meet  a  rattlesnake  in  a  dark 
hole.  I  wonder  if  the  bird  learned  this  trick 
living  in  the  same  house  with  the  snake. 

The  Department  of  Agriculture  has  proved 
owls  to  be  among  the  most  useful  of  birds.  Their 
food  is  almost  entirely  of  hurtful  creatures,  and 
they  come  out  at  night  when  other  birds  are 
asleep  and  are  ready  to  hunt  the  pests  which  do 
the  same. 


XXXIII 

THE   BARN    OWL   FAMILY 

(Strigidce)  l 

I'ins  is  a  small  family  of  which  we  have  but 
one  member  in  America,  the  AMERICAN  BARN 
OWL.  He  is  found  all  over  the  country,  as  far 
north  as  southern  New  England,  but  he  is  one  of 
the  shyest  of  birds.  He  comes  out  only  at  night, 
and  hides  so  well  in  the  day  that  he  is  not  often 
seen,  even  where  he  is  common.  So  very  little 
is  known  of  his  ways. 

When  he  does  happen  to  come  out,  and  any 
one  sees  him,  a  great  deal  is  said  about  him. 
For  he  is  a  very  odd-looking  fellow  indeed.  He 
is  all  in  gray  and  white,  clouded  and  speckled 
and  barred,  and  his  face  is  the  strangest  of  bird 
faces.  It  is  three-cornered,  and  looks  more  like 
a  monkey's  than  a  bird's.  If  he  shows  this  face 
in  the  daylight,  he  is  generally  caught  or  shot, 
and  the  newspapers  make  a  great  fuss  about  him. 
Some  one  says  he  looks  like  a  toothless  little  old 
woman,  with  a  hooked  nose. 

1  See  Appendix,  26. 


186  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

Happily  for  the  barn  owl,  he  does  not  often 
come  out.  He  loves  quiet  more  than  anything. 
He  seeks  a  hidden,  safe  place,  not  only  for  a  nest, 
but  to  spend  his  days  in.  He  is  almost  the  only 
bird  who  may  be  said  to  live  in  a  home. 

When  house  hunting,  this  bird  will  take  a  snug 
cavity  in  a  tree,  or  an  empty  building.  He  does 
not  despise  an  old  mining  shaft,  or  a  burrow  in 
the  ground.  He  delights  in  a  church  steeple  or 
a  barn.  Almost  any  place  that  is  quiet  and  out 
of  sight  of  the  world  will  suit  him. 

All  day  the  barn  owl  stays  at  home.  But  in 
the  evening  he  comes  out  for  his  dinner,  and 
then  there  is  havoc  among  the  small  animals. 
Rats,  ground  squirrels,  mice,  bats,  small  snakes, 
grasshoppers,  and  almost  anything  else  that  is 
eatable  are  welcome  to  him.  He  should  be  pro- 
tected because  he  is  so  useful. 

This  bird  is  an  amiable  fellow  too.  He  has 
been  known  to  live  pleasantly  in  a  church  tower 
with  pigeons,  whom  he  could  easily  kill  to  eat  if 
he  wished.  He  is  a  hearty  eater  himself,  besides 
feeding  a  family  of  five  or  six  little  fuzzy  white 
owlets  great  quantities  of  food. 

One  of  these  owls  has  lived  for  years  in  a 
tower  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  in  Wash- 
ington. In  the  Zoological  Collection  of  that  city, 
there  was,  not  long  ago,  another  of  the  family 


THE  BARN  OWL  FAMILY  187 

alive.  Wishing  to  have  more  of  them  in  the 
Zoo,  some  one  watched  the  nest  of  the  tower 
bird.  When  her  little  family  of  seven  was  about 
ready  to  fly,  he  took  them  away,  and  gave  them 
to  their  caged  relative.  She  promptly  adopted  the 
whole  party,  and  reared  them  with  the  greatest 
care.  No  doubt  she  was  glad  to  have  something 
to  do.  Life  in  a  cage  must  be  very  tiresome  for 
wild  birds  and  beasts. 

Mr.  Reed  of  Philadelphia  has  told  us  how  a 
pet  barn  owl  threw  up  the  castings.  These,  you 
know,  are  the  bones  and  skin  of  mice  and  other 
creatures  which  are  thrown  up  awhile  after  eat- 
ing. He  would  bow  his  head  and  shake  it  very 
hard.  Then  raise  it  and  jerk  out  the  little  ball. 

This  bird  was  very  tame.  The  place  where 
he  liked  best  to  sit  was  on  the  arm  or  shoulder 
of  his  master.  If  the  man  wanted  to  do  any- 
thing except  play  with  him,  he  had  to  get  a 
stuffed  bird  to  amuse  the  living  one.  It  was 
like  a  doll  for  a  baby  girl.  When  the  owl  was 
not  perfectly  comfortable,  he  kept  up  a  constant 
cry,  so  his  master  had  to  keep  him  well  enter- 
tained and  fed. 

The  note  of  the  barn  owl  is  a  wild  screech. 
One  is  sometimes  heard  making  this  sound,  but 
he  is  never  heard  flying,  for,  like  other  owls,  he 
is  dressed  in  soft  feathers  that  make  no  rustle. 


XXXIV 

THE  HAWK  AND  EAGLE  FAMILY 

(Falconidce)  1 

THIS  is  a  family  of  birds  of  prey.  That  is. 
birds  who  live  entirely  on  living  animals,  which 
they  hunt  and  catch  for  themselves.  Owls  are 
also  birds  of  prey,  but  they  do  their  hunting  by 
night,  while  this  family  work  by  day. 

Like  all  birds,  hawks  are  well  fitted  for  what 
they  have  to  do.  They  have  long  wings,  so  that 
they  can  fly  swiftly  and  long  at  a  time,  to  follow 
up  the  prey.  They  have  sharp,  curved  claws, 
made  for  grasping  and  holding  things.  Their 
hooked  beak  is  the  best  kind  for  cutting  and 
tearing  meat. 

Most  of  these  birds  work  for  us  the  whole 
time,  as  do  the  owls.  For  they  eat  the  same  de- 
structive animals,  and  they  eat  an  enormous 
number.  Yet  we  have  a  foolish  prejudice  against 
them,  because  two  or  three  of  them  sometimes 
take  poultry  and  game  birds.  Even  when  these 

1  See  Appendix,  27. 


SPARROW   HAWK 


THE  HAWK  AND  EAGLE  FAMILY  189 

birds  do  take  our  poultry  and  game  birds,  some 
good  is  done.  For  they  naturally  catch  the  weak 
ones  who  are  not  able  to  get  out  of  their  way. 
And  it  is  better  for  the  whole  race  of  these  birds 
that  the  weak  ones  should  not  live.  It  leaves 
the  rest  stronger,  and  better  able  to  make  their 
way  in  the  world. 

This  family  is  found  all  over  the  world.  It 
includes  birds  of  all  sizes,  from  one  as  small  as  a 
sparrow  to  one  who  spreads  his  wings  ten  feet. 
In  our  country  we  have  neither  the  smallest  nor 
the  largest.  Of  those  you  are  likely  to  see,  the 
least  is  the  American  Sparrow  Hawk,  who  is  not 
much  larger  than  a  robin,  and  the  greatest  is  the 
Bald  Eagle,  who  is  sometimes  a  yard  from  the 
tip  of  his  beak  to  the  end  of  his  tail. 

Hawks  have  wonderful  eyes  like  a  telescope 
and  microscope  in  one,  as  I  have  told  you  in 
"  The  First  Book  of  Birds."  In  eating  without 
knife  and  fork,  they  often  swallow  food  whole 
and  throw  up  castings  like  the  owls. 

In  catching  their  prey  these  birds  use  their 
feet  instead  of  their  beaks.  Even  those  who 
hunt  grasshoppers  and  crickets  seize  them  in 
their  claws.  Their  feet  are  quite  as  useful  as 
hands.  In  them  they  carry  material  for  the  nest 
as  well  as  food  for  the  little  ones.  The  claws 
are  powerful  weapons  of  war,  too.  A  hawk 


190  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

who  is  ready  to  fight  throws  himself  on  his  hack 
and  presents  his  claws  to  the  enemy.  Few  peo- 
ple would  like  to  be  grappled  by  those  terrible 
claws. 

Hawks  and  eagles  have  wonderful  wing  power. 
Some  of  them  can  stay  far  up  in  the  air  an  hour 
at  a  time.  They  go  up  in  great  circles  with 
wings  held  stiffly  out  and  not  beating,  till  out 
of  sight.  Men  have  not  yet  been  able  to  see 
quite  how  it  is  done.  It  is  probably  by  using 
the  wings  as  sailors  use  their  sails,  and  making 
the  wind  carry  them. 

The  one  of  this  family  I  shall  tell  you  about 
is  the  FISH  HAWK,  or  AMERICAN  OSPREY,  be- 
cause he  is  found  all  over  the  United  States. 
He  is  one  of  those  which  you  will  be  most  likely 
to  see,  and  want  to  know  about. 

The  osprey  is  a  large  bird,  about  two  feet 
long.  He  is  dressed  in  chocolate  brown,  with 
white  breast  and  white  tips  to  many  of  his 
feathers.  His  head  feathers  are  long,  and  lie 
back  on  his  neck,  giving  a  peculiar  shape  to  the 
head,  by  which  you  may  know  him  at  once. 
These  feathers  too  are  white,  so  that  as  he  flies 
over  he  looks  as  if  he  were  bald.  He  has  feet 
marvelously  fitted  to  hold  slippery  fish.  The 
talons  are  sharp,  and  the  toes  long,  and  rough 


THE  HAWK  AND  EAGLE  FAMILY  191 

on  the  under  side,  so  that  nothing  can  get  away 
from  them. 

The  fish  hawk  is  a  social  bird  and  fond  of  his 
home.  Though  he  migrates,  he  comes  back  to 
the  old  place,  year  after  year.  He  likes  the  top 
of  a  stout  tree  to  build  in.  It  needs  to  be  stout, 
for  he  makes  a  very  big  nest,  and  adds  to  it  every 
season.  It  generally  kills  the  tree,  if  it  is  not 
dead  when  he  begins.  If  there  are  no  trees  to 
be  had,  or  if  there  are  too  many  birds  for  the 
trees  at  hand,  some  of  them  will  nest  on  the 
ground,  for  they  like  to  keep  near  their  friends. 
The  nest  is  made  of  sticks  and  all  the  rubbish 
the  birds  can  collect.  Such  things  are  found  as 
an  old  broom,  a  boy's  sail-boat,  a  rag  doll,  and 
others  as  absurd. 

The  young  fish  hawk  is  a  pretty  little  fellow 
in  white  down.  He  is  three  or  four  weeks  in 
the  egg,  and  a  long  time  in  the  nest,  and  is  help- 
less a  good  deal  longer.  He  is  fed  on  fish  like 
his  parents.  For  this  bird  deserves  his  name ;  he 
is  a  fisherman,  and  always  takes  his  food  from 
the  water.  Fortunately  he  usually  selects  the 
poorer  kinds  of  fish,  which  men  do  not  care  to 
eat,  and  so  he  is  not  called  an  enemy  by  the 
fishermen. 

But  the  hard-working  osprey  has  an  enemy, 
who  makes  it  his  business  to  rob  him.  The  way 


192  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

the  fish  hawk  gets  his  food  is  to  dive  for  it.  He 
hovers  over  the  water  till  he  sees  a  fish  near  the 
surface  that  suits  him.  Then  he  closes  his  wings 
and  dives  like  a  shot.  He  plunges  in  often 
over  his  head,  and  seizes  the  fish  in  his  claws 
or  talons.  Then  he  rises,  and  shaking  off  the 
water  flies  toward  his  family,  with  their  dinner. 

But  then  appears  the  robber,  the  bald  eagle, 
I  'm  sorry  to  say,  who  prefers  stealing  his  food 
to  hunting  for  himself.  He  rushes  furiously  at 
the  fish  hawk,  who  is  obliged  to  drop  his  load  to 
defend  himself.  Then  the  eagle  seizes  it,  often 
before  it  reaches  the  ground,  and  flies  off,  while 
the  osprey  goes  back  to  his  fishing. 

But  the  osprey  is  learning  something,  like  the 
rest  of  the  birds.  On  the  shore  of  New  Jersey 
there  is  a  place  where  men  fish  with  great  nets, 
and  bring  in  hundreds  of  fish  every  day.  The 
birds  have  noted  how  much  better  men  are  at 
their  trade  of  fishing  than  they  are.  So  they 
have  thought  out  an  easier  way  to  get  food  than 
to  dive  for  it.  Perhaps  they  got  the  hint  from 
the  eagle. 

Wherever  the  fish  hawks  got  the  idea,  it  is 
now  the  common  custom  for  them  to  sit  on  the 
poles  that  hold  the  net  and  wait.  When  it  is 
drawn  up  filled  with  flopping  fish,  each  bird  dives 
down  and  secures  one  for  himself.  And  he  takes 


AMERICAN  OSPREY  OR  FISH  HAWK 


THE  HAWK  AND  EAGLE  FAMILY     193 

time  to  choose,  too.  If  there  is  one  of  a  kind  he 
particularly  likes,  he  goes  for  that  one. 

Fish  hawks,  like  other  birds,  are  very  fond  of 
their  little  ones.  A  gentleman  who  had  heen 
traveling  in  the  West  told  me  this  little  story. 
He,  with  a  party  who  were  wandering  over  a 
wild  part  of  the  country,  accidentally  set  fire  to 
a  bit  of  woods  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Superior. 
On  one  of  the  trees  was  a  fish  hawk's  nest  with 
young  birds.  As  soon  as  the  smoke  began  to 
spread,  the  old  birds  grew  uneasy,  and  circled 
about  their  tree,  going  often  to  the  nest. 

The  men  who  had  done  the  mischief,  and 
who  had  then  taken  to  their  boat,  were  noting 
the  spread  of  the  fire.  They  watched  the  birds 
to  see  what  they  would  do.  When  the  fire  at 
last  reached  their  tree,  the  loving  parents  turned 
with  one  accord,  plunged  down  into  the  nest, 
and  all  perished  together.  They  could  easily 
have  saved  themselves,  but  they  could  not  desert 
their  nestlings. 


XXXV 

THE    SCAVENGER    FAMILY 

(Cathartidce)  l 

THIS  is  one  of  the  most  useful  of  bird  families. 
But  it  is  not  very  pleasant  to  meet,  for  the  work 
it  has  to  do  makes  it  rather  repulsive  to  us. 

The  vultures  are  scavengers.  They  dispose  of 
vast  quantities  of  carrion  and  other  offensive 
matter.  In  doing  this  they  make  it  possible  for 
people  to  live  in  places  where  they  could  not  live 
without  the  service  of  these  birds. 

The  common  vulture  in  the  United  States  is 
the  TURKEY  VULTURE,  or  TURKEY  BUZZARD. 
He  is  a  large  bird,  with  head  and  neck  bare  of 
feathers.  In  shape  and  size  he  is  a  good  deal 
like  a  turkey.  He  is  a  familiar  bird  all  over 
the  country,  except  in  New  England  and  other 
northern  parts,  and  is  usually  seen  soaring  about 
in  the  air,  looking  for  food.  Beautiful  and 
graceful  he  looks  away  up  against  the  sky.  He 

1  See  Appendix,  28. 


THE   SCAVENGER  FAMILY  195 

sails  around  as  if  he  weighed  nothing,  with  wing 
feathers  spread  at  the  tip  like  fingers.  But  he  is 
not  so  pretty  when  he  comes  to  the  ground,  for 
he  is  very  clumsy  and  awkward  in  getting  about. 

The  turkey  buzzard  nests  almost  anywhere ; 
he  is  not  at  all  particular  —  on  the  ground,  in  a 
hollow  stump,  or  tree.  The  young  are  comfort- 
ably dressed  in  white  down,  but  they  are  not 
pretty.  They  are  as  awkward  as  their  parents, 
and  have  a  way  of  hanging  their  heads  as  if 
they  were  ashamed  of  themselves.  That  is  not 
the  reason,  however;  their  work  is  something 
we  could  not  do  without.  It  is  because  they  are 
too  weak  to  hold  themselves  up. 

I  once  saw  a  funny  sight.  A  party  of  eighteen 
or  twenty  great  buzzards  had  come  to  the  ground 
to  get  their  dinner.  They  were  all  very  busily 
engaged  just  the  other  side  of  a  fence,  so  that  I 
could  not  see  them  at  their  feast. 

Suddenly  a  mockingbird  that  I  was  watching 
flew  over  and  alighted  on  the  fence.  He  stood 
there  a  minute,  looking  sharply  down  at  them, 
and  flirting  his  tail  in  a  saucy  way.  All  at  once, 
to  my  great  surprise,  he  gave  a  loud  cry  and 
flung  himself  down  right  among  the  great  birds. 

I  was  frightened.  I  thought  one  peck  from 
one  of  their  strong  beaks  would  kill  the  little 
fellow.  But  instead  of  that,  the  whole  party  of 


196  THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  BIRDS 

buzzards  flew  up  in  a  panic,  as  if  they  were 
afraid  of  him.  Then  the  mockingbird,  who 
looked  like  a  midget  beside  them,  hopped  back 
upon  the  fence,  and  burst  into  a  loud  song  of 
victory.  He  knew  the  turkey  buzzard  better 
than  I  did.  No  one  likes  to  get  very  near  this 
bird,  so  very  little  is  known  about  his  ways. 


APPENDIX 

CHARACTERS  OF  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  REPRE- 
SENTATIVES OF  THE  FAMILIES  MENTIONED 
IN  THIS  BOOK 

NOTE.  —  These  characters,  though  correct,  are  untechnically  given,  and 
are  such  as  may  be  observed  on  the  "  bird  in  the  bush"  while  the  added  hints 
on  habits,  etc.,  will  be  found  helpful  in  identification. 

1.  Turdidse :  THRUSHES. 

Medium  size ;  bill  shorter  than  head,  straight  or  nearly 
so ;  bristles  (hair-like  feathers)  at  corner  of  mouth ;  wings 
rather  pointed,  and  longer  than  tail ;  tail-feathers  wider 
towards  the  end,  the  whole  somewhat  fan-shaped.  Young 
in  first  feathers  speckled  and  streaked,  very  different  from 
the  adults.  Sexes  nearly  alike  (except  robin,  varied 
thrush,  and  bluebird).  (Ridgway.) 

Food  :  insects,  earthworms,  and  sometimes  fruit. 

These  birds  are  all  singers  and  build  rude  nests.  Found 
usually  on  the  lower  part  of  trees  in  the  woods  (except 
robin  and  bluebird)  or  on  the  ground,  where  they  get 
most  of  their  food. 

2.  Sylviidae :  KINGLETS  and  GNATCATCHERS. 

This  family  is  divided  into  two  subfamilies. 

KINGLETS  :  Very  small ;  bill  slender,  much  shorter  than 
head,  straight  to  near  tip,  then  slightly  curved ;  bristles  at 
corner  of  mouth;  wings  longer  than  tail;  tail  slightly 
forked,  feathers  pointed  ;  legs  long ;  claws  much  curved. 
Young  without  markings  on  head.  (Ridgway.) 

Food :  insects. 


198  APPENDIX 

Very  small,  active,  musical  birds,  usually  found  flitting 
about  in  trees. 

GNATCATCHERS  :  Very  small  and  slim ;  bill  slender  and 
short,  nearly  as  long  as  head,  notched  at  tip ;  bristles  at 
corner  of  mouth ;  wings  shorter  than  tail  and  rounded ; 
tail  long  and  moderately  graduated,  feathers  rounded; 
legs  rather  long  ;  toes  small.  (Ridgway.) 

Active,  beautiful  nest  builders,  found  in  the  tops  of 
trees.  Insectivorous. 

3.  Paridse  :  NUTHATCHES,  TITMICE,  etc. 

This  family  is  divided  into  three  subfamilies. 

NUTHATCHES:  Smaller  than  English  sparrow;  bill 
sharp,  pointed,  higher  than  wide,  about  as  long  as  head  ; 
bristles  over  nostrils  ;  wings  pointed ;  tail  very  short, 
nearly  even,  feathers  soft ;  legs  stout.  (Ridgway.) 

Parents  nearly  alike  ;  food,  insects. 

Found  on  the  trunks  and  large  limbs  of  trees. 

TITMICE  :  Usually  smaller  than  English  sparrow ; 
bill  stout,  conical,  shorter  than  head ;  nasal  feathers 
turned  forward  ;  tail  longer  than  wing.  (Ridgway.) 

Food :  insects.  Parents  alike,  and  young  the  same. 
No  noticeable  change  of  plumage  with  season. 

WREN-TITS  and  Busn-TiTS  :  Very  small ;  bill  short  and 
conical ;  tail  rounded.  Sexes  alike. 

4.  Certhiidae:  CREEPERS. 

Smaller  than  English  sparrow ;  bill  slender  and  curved 
downward ;  wings  rather  pointed,  long  as  tail ;  tail  gradu- 
ated, stiff,  with  long,  sharp-pointed  feathers ;  claws  long 
and  strongly  curved.  (Ridgway.) 

Food :  insects.  Sexes  alike,  and  young  the  same. 
Found  circling  tree  trunks. 


APPENDIX  199 

5.  Troglodytidae  :  WRENS  and  MOCKING  THRUSHES. 

This  family  is  divided  into  two  subfamilies. 

WRENS  :  Smaller  than  English  sparrow ;  bill  slender, 
sometimes  long  and  arched;  no  bristles  at  corner  of 
mouth;  wings  rounded;  tail  usually  held  up.  (Ridg- 
way.) 

Parents  and  young  alike.  Food :  insects.  Singers. 
Found  near  the  ground. 

MOCKING  THRUSHES  :  Larger  than  English  sparrow ; 
bill  slender,  mostly  rather  long ;  bristles  at  corner  of 
mouth ;  wings  rounded ;  tail  longer  than  wings  ;  appear 
like  thrushes  ;  fine  singers.  (Ridgway.) 

Sexes  nearly  alike.  Food,  insects  and  fruit.  Some 
of  them  found  in  bushy  borders  of  woods,  some  about 
gardens  and  houses,  and  others  in  various  places. 

6.  Cinclidae  :  DIPPERS. 

Larger  than  English  sparrow ;  bill  slender,  shorter 
than  head ;  wings  short,  stiff  and  rounded ;  tail  shorter 
than  wings,  soft  and  square ;  claws  strongly  curved  ; 
plumage  soft  and  compact ;  body  stout,  thi«kset.  Sexes 
alike.  (Coues.) 

Food  :  water  insects  and  larvae.  Found  in  and  about 
the  brooks  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  other  mountains 
of  the  West. 

7.  Motacillidse :  WAGTAILS  and  PIPITS. 

Larger  than  English  sparrow;  bill  slender,  cone 
shaped,  nearly  as  high  as  wide,  at  base  ;  short  bristles  at 
corner  of  mouth ;  wings  rather  long  and  pointed ;  tail 
narrow  and  slightly  forked  ;  legs  rather  long  ;  hind  claw 
very  long,  sharp  and  slightly  curved.  (Ridgway.) 

Sexes  alike.  Food  :  insects.  Found  on  the  ground, 
where  they  walk,  and  wag  their  tails. 


200  APPENDIX 

8.  Mniotiltidee :  WARBLERS. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  characterize  this  family,  there 
are  so  many  varieties.  With  few  exceptions  they  are 
very  small  and  beautifully  colored  birds,  sexes  unlike,  and 
changes  of  plumage  with  age  and  season.  Some  are 
found  in  the  tops  of  trees,  some  on  bushes,  and  some  on 
the  ground.  Food :  insects.  (Coues.) 

9.  Vireonidse :  VIREOS. 

Generally  smaller  than  an  English  sparrow,  and  more 
slender ;  bill  notched  in  both  mandibles ;  tail  rather 
short,  nearly  even,  of  narrow  feathers ;  front  toes  more 
or  less  united.  (Ridgway.) 

Food :  insects.  Constant  singers.  Sexes  alike  and 
young  the  same,  without  spots  or  streaks.  Some  found 
in  trees  in  the  woods,  and  others  about  towns  where 
English  sparrows  are  not  too  numerous. 

10.  Laniidse :  SHRIKES. 

Larger  than  an  English  sparrow;  bill  powerful,  tip 
hooked  and  notched ;  wings  short,  rounded  ;  tail  long  and 
much  graduated.  (Ridgway.) 

Food:  insects,  small  mammals,  and  sometimes  birds. 
Sexes  alike,  and  young  the  same.  Found  on  outside  of 
low  trees,  fences,  telegraph  wires,  and  peaks  of  roofs. 

11.  Ampelidse :  WAXWINGS,  etc. 

Somewhat  larger  than  an  English  sparrow ;  bill  short, 
broad  and  rather  flat ;  head  with  pointed  crest ;  wings 
long  and  pointed ;  tail  short,  narrow,  even ;  legs  of  mod- 
erate length.  (Ridgway.) 

Food :  insects  and  fruit.  Sexes  usually  alike.  Found 
in  trees  in  woods  and  in  shade  and  orchard  trees, 


APPENDIX  201 

12.  Hirundinidaa :  SWALLOWS. 

About  the  size  of  an  English  sparrow ;  bill  short,  flat, 
and  very  broad  at  the  head  ;  mouth  opens  back  nearly  to 
the  eyes ;  wings  long  and  scythe  shaped ;  tail  forked ; 
legs  short ;  feet  weak ;  plumage  compact  and  usually 
lustrous.  (Ridgway.) 

Food :  insects.  Sexes  usually  alike,  and  young  a 
little  different.  Found  in  flocks,  in  the  air,  on  roofs  or 
fences  or  telegraph  wires,  sometimes  on  trees. 

13.  Tanagridae:  TANAGERS. 

Larger  than  an  English  sparrow ;  bill  conical,  notched, 
bristles ;  wings  longer  than  tail ;  tail  of  moderate  length, 
somewhat  notched  ;  legs  rather  short.  (Ridgway.) 

Food  :  insects.  Sexes  unlike.  Found  on  trees  in  the 
woods. 

14.  Fringillidae :  FINCHES. 

Mostly  about  the  size  of  an  English  sparrow,  some 
smaller,  some  larger  ;  bill  short,  high,  and  strong,  turned 
down  at  the  back  corner ;  wings  and  tail  variable. 
(Ridgway.) 

Seed  and  insect  eaters.  Found  everywhere  —  on  trees, 
bushes,  on  ground,  in  woods,  fields,  and  about  houses. 

15.  Icteridse  :  BLACKBIRDS,  ORIOLES,  etc. 

Larger  than  an  English  sparrow ;  bill  straight  or 
gently  curved ;  mouth  turned  down  at  corners ;  tail 
rather  long  and  rounded;  legs  rather  short.  Includes 
birds  of  very  different  habits.  (Ridgway.) 

Food  :  seeds  and  insects.  Sexes  generally  unlike. 
Found  everywhere,  on  trees,  in  marshes,  in  woods. 
Many  gregarious,  found  in  flocks,  some  except  in  nesting 
season,  and  others  all  the  year  round. 


202  APPENDIX 

16.  Corvidse  :  CROWS  and  JAYS. 

Larger  than  a  robin.     There  are  two  subfamilies. 

CROWS  :  Bill  longer  than  head ;  wings  long  and 
pointed ;  tail  rather  short  and  even. 

JAYS  :  Bill  shorter  than  head ;  wings  short  and 
rounded.  (Ridgway.) 

Food  :  almost  everything  —  seeds,  fruit,  sometimes 
eggs  and  young  birds.  Found  in  woody  places. 

17.  Alaudidse :  LARKS. 

Larger  than  an  English  sparrow;  bill  short,  conical, 
frontal  feathers  extend  along  the  side ;  wings  pointed ; 
claw  on  hind  toe  very  long  and  nearly  straight.  (Ridg- 
way.) 

Food :  insects.  Sexes  nearly  alike.  Found  on  ground 
in  fields  and  roads. 

18.  Tyrannidae:  FLYCATCHERS. 

Mostly  larger  than  an  English  sparrow;  bill  broad, 
flattened,  curved  downward  at  end,  and  notched  at  tip ; 
bristles  along  the  gape  ;  wings  and  tail  variable.  (Ridg- 
way.) 

Entirely  insectivorous.  Found  in  woods  and  fields  and 
about  houses. 

19.  TrochilidsB :  HUMMINGBIRDS. 

Our  smallest  birds ;  bill  slender,  sharp,  and  straight, 
usually  longer  than  head ;  wings  long  and  pointed  ;  legs 
short;  feet  small  and  weak;  claws  curved  and  sharp. 
(Ridgway.) 

Food :  tiny  insects  and  the  honey  of  flowers.  Sexes 
unlike.  Found  about  flowers. 

20.  Micropodidae :  SWIFTS. 

About  the  size  of  an  English  sparrow  ;  bill  very  small, 


APPENDIX  203 

triangular,  much  broader  than  high,  without  bristles; 
wings  long  and  pointed ;  legs  short ;  feet  weak ;  tail  very 
short,  ending  in  stiff  spines ;  plumage  compact.  (Ridg- 
way.) 

Food :  entirely  insects.  Sexes  alike.  Found  in  the  air 
or  inside  chimneys  or  hollow  trees. 

21.  Caprimulgidae  :  GOATSUCKERS. 

Larger  than  a  robin  ;  bill  very  short ;  gape  enormously 
long  and  wide ;  mouth  open  to  behind  the  eyes ;  wings 
long ;  plumage  soft.  (Ridgway.) 

Food :  insects.  Sexes  nearly  alike.  One  species 
found  in  the  edge  of  woods,  and  another  species  about 
towns. 

22.  Picidse:  WOODPECKERS. 

Larger  than  an  English  sparrow  ;  bill  usually  straight, 
pointed  or  chisel-shaped  at  tip;  tongue  extensile  and 
except  in  one  species  barbed  at  point ;  tail  stiff  and 
feathers  pointed  at  tip  for  a  prop ;  toes,  except  in  three- 
toed  species,  two  forward  and  two  backward  for  climbing. 
(Ridgway.) 

Insectivorous.  Sexes  unlike.  Found  on  trees  (except 
one  species)  in  woods  or  orchards. 

23.  Alcedinidae:  KINGFISHERS. 

Usually  larger  than  a  robin ;  bill  long  and  straight ; 
tongue  small ;  head  large,  crested ;  wings  short ;  legs 
small ;  outer  and  middle  toe  united  half  their  length. 
(Ridgway.) 

Food :  fishes.    Sexes  slightly  unlike.    Found  by  water. 

24.  Cuculidse:  CUCKOOS. 

Larger  than  a  robin  j  bill  narrow  and  high,  rather  long 


204  APPENDIX 

and  curved  downward ;  wings  long ;  tail  long,  soft,  and 
rounded  ;  toes  in  pairs.     (Ridgway.) 

Insectivorous.     Sexes  alike.     Found  on  trees. 

25.  Bubonidae:  OWLS. 

Mostly  larger  than  a  robin,  a  few  smaller ;  bill  hooked  ; 
eyes  directed  forward  and  surrounded  by  radiating  fea- 
thers ;  plumage  soft  and  lax  ;  feathers  beside  forehead 
often  stand  up  like  ear  tufts ;  legs  usually  feathered  ; 
feet  sometimes  feathered.  (Ridgway.) 

Sexes  alike.  Flesh  eaters.  Usually  nocturnal.  Most 
species  found  in  holes  in  trees  or  old  buildings. 

26.  Strigidae  :  BARN  OWLS. 

Much  larger  than  a  robin ;  bill  hooked ;  eyes  very 
small ;  triangular-shaped  eye  disk ;  tail  emarginate  ;  claws 
sharp  and  strong ;  very  downy  plumage.  (Ridgway). 

Food :  mice  and  other  small  mammals.  Sexes  alike. 
Exclusively  nocturnal.  Found  in  barns  and  deserted 
buildings. 

27.  Falconidse  :  HAWKS  and  EAGLES. 

(There  are  several  subfamilies.) 

Mostly  very  large  birds  ;  bill  strongly  hooked ;  eyes 
directed  sideways ;  eyelids  with  lashes ;  toes  never  fea- 
thered. (Ridgway.) 

Carnivorous  and  insectivorous.  Sexes  usually  alike, 
but  female  larger. 

28.  Cathartidee :  AMERICAN  VULTURES. 

Large  as  a  turkey,  one  species  much  larger;  whole 
head  and  sometimes  neck  bare  of  feathers ;  eyes  promi- 
nent ;  tail  rounded.  (Ridgway.) 

Food  :  carrion.     Found  sailing  about  in  the  air. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


References  to  the  FIRST  BOOK  are  indicated  by  I ;  those  to  the 
SECOND  BOOK  by  2. 


Affections,  I,  78-82. 
Air-sacs,  I,  92,  94. 
Alaudidse,  2,  131,  202. 
Alcedinidae,  2,  170,  203. 
Ampelidse,  2,  63,  200. 
Arrival  in  spring,  I,  3,  4. 
Attraction    and    Protection    of 

Birds,  1, 131-135. 
Audubon,  John  James,  I,  60. 
Auks,  1, 110. 

Barn  Owl  Family,  2, 185,  204. 

Beak,  I,  95-97. 

Blackbird,  Brewer's,  2,  113. 

Blackbird,  Crow,  I,  72;  2, 110. 

Blackbird,  Red-winged,  2,  94; 
portrait,  2,  94. 

Blackbird  Family,  2,  94,  201. 

Blackbirds,  I,  3,  126,  129. 

Bluebird,  arrival,  I,  3;  getting 
food  for  young,  17;  teaching 
young  to  fly,  37,  38;  feeding, 
50;  2,  5;  portrait,  I,  38. 

Bobolink,  nest  of,  I,  9;  one  of  the 
first  birds  to  stop  singing  in 
summer,  47;  the  fall  migration, 
61,  62. 

Bob-white  (quail),  I,  44,  59. 

Body,  shape  of,  I,  91. 

Bolles,  Frank,  his  pet  owl,  1, 101, 
116;  his  story  of  a  heron,  103, 
104. 


Bones,  I,  92,  94. 
Books  about  birds,  I,  142-144. 
Brooding,  I,  13-16. 
Bubonidae,  2,  178,  204. 
Bunting,  Towhee,  or  Chewink,  I, 

76,  77;  2,  84;  portrait,  I,  76. 
Bush-Tits,  2,  198. 
Butcher-birds,  2,  59. 
Buzzard,  Turkey,  I,  50,  51;    2, 

194. 

Canary,  I,  20,  57,  81. 

Caprimulgidse,  2,  155,  203. 

Cardinal,  I,  69,  132;  2,  88;  por- 
trait, 2,  90. 

Catbird,  food  of,  I,  49,  126;  jerk- 
ing the  tail,  113;  2,  37,  125; 
portrait,  2,  36. 

Cathartidse,  2,  194,  204. 

Cave  -  dwelling  Family,  2,  30, 
199. 

Cedar-bird,  feeding  young,  i,  19; 
story  of  affection  for  young, 
78;  usefulness  to  man,  126, 129; 
2,  63;  portrait,  I,  126. 

Certhiidse,  2,  27,  198. 

Chat,  Long-tailed,  2,  53.   , 

Chat,  Yellow-breastel,  2,  52; 
portrait,  2,  52. 

Chewink,  I,  76,  77;  2,  84;  por- 
trait, I,  76. 

Chickadee,  defending  eggs,  1, 11. 


208 


INDEX 


12:  getting  food  for  young,  18; 
as  an  eater  of  insects'  eggs,  68, 
126;  affection  for  young,  78; 
2,  22;  portrait,  2,  22. 

Chickadee,  Mountain,  2,  22. 

Chickadees,  2,  22. 

Chuck-will's-widow,  2,  157. 

Cinclidjfi,  2,  42,  199. 

Color  in  feathers,  1, 120.  See  also 
Plumage. 

Cormorant,  I,  94. 

Corvidse,  2,  117,  202. 

Cowbird,  2,  51,  98. 

Creeper,  Brown,  2,  27;  portrait, 
2,28. 

Creeper  Family,  2,  27,  198. 

Creepers,  2,  19. 

Crop,  I,  93. 

Crossbill,  American  or  Red,  2, 
91. 

Crossbill,  White-winged,  2,  92. 

Crossbills,  I,  97;  2,  91. 

Crow,  American,  punishing  a 
young  one,  I,  37;  sleeping  in 
flocks,  59,  60;  story  of  an  affec- 
tionate, 80;  usefulness  to  men, 
126;  2,  40,  117. 

Crow  Family,  2,  117,  202. 

Cuckoo,  Black-billed,  2,  174. 

Cuckoo,  California,  2,  174. 

Cuckoo,  Yellow-billed,  2,  174; 
portrait,  2,  174. 

Cuckoo  Family,  2,  174,  203. 

Cuculidffi,  2,  174,  203. 

Dipper,  American,  2, 42;  portrait, 

2,42. 

Dipper  Family,  2,  42,  199. 
Down,  the  first  plumage,  I,  15, 

21,  22,  115. 
Ducks,  i,  97,  115. 


Eagle,  Bald,  2,  189,  192. 

Ears,  I,  102-104. 

Eggs,  beauty  of,  I,  11;  the  moth- 
er's care,  11,  12;  incubation 
and  hatching  of,  13-15. 

Eyes,  I,  100-102. 

Falconidse,  2,  188,  204. 

Feathers,  first  appearance  on  the 
young  bird,  I,  22;  of  the  wing, 
109-111;  of  the  tail,  112,  113; 
the  various  kinds  of,  114,  115; 
expression  of  emotions  by,  116; 
the  birds'  care  of,  116,  117. 
See  also  Plumage. 

Feet,  i,  92,  105-108. 

Finches,  2,  82,  201. 

Fish,  birds  and  dead,  i,  86,  87. 

Flicker,  method  of  feeding  young, 
i,  18;  food  of,  85,  127;  color 
markings,  121;  2,  161;  por- 
trait, I,  86. 

Flicker,  Red-shafted,  2,  161, 162. 

Flycatcher,  Least,  2,  136. 

Flycatcher,  Shining  Crested,  2, 
67. 

Flycatching  Family,  2,  135,  202. 

Flying,  I,  93. 

Food,  I,  48-55;  in  winter,  67-69, 
134;  in  its  relation  to  the  wel- 
fare of  man,  125-130. 

Frigate-bird,  I,  110. 

Fringillidse,  2,  80,  201. 

Geese,  i,  98,  99. 
Gizzard,  i,  93. 

Gnatcatcher,  Blue-gray,  2,  16. 
Gnatcatchers,  2,  198. 
Goatsucker  Family,  2,  155,  203. 
Goldfinch,  American,  1, 14;  story 
of  canary  and,  20;  change  of 


INDEX 


209 


color,  26;  food,  54;  flocking,  71; 

2,  82;  portrait,  I,  26. 
Goldfinch,  European,  I,  79. 
Goldfinch,  Willow,  2,  84. 
Grackle,  Bronzed,  2,  112. 
Grackle,  Purple,  2,  112. 
Grackles,  2,  110. 
Grosbeak,  Black-headed,  2,  88. 
Grosbeak,  Cardinal,  i,  69,    132; 

2,  88;  portrait,  2,  90. 
Grosbeak,  Rose-breasted,  2,  86; 

portrait,  2,  86. 
Grosbeaks,  2,  86. 
Grouse,  I,  58,  59,  110. 
Grouse,  Ruffed,  i,  111. 
Gullet,  i,  93. 
Gulls,  i,  101. 

Hawk,    American    Sparrow,    2, 

189;  portrait,  2,  188. 
Hawk,  Fish,  2,  190;  portrait,  2, 

192. 
Hawk  and  Eagle  Family,  2,  188, 

204. 
Hawks,  food  of,  i,  52,  53,    126, 

127;  asleep,  59;  beaks  of,  97; 

eyesight  of,  101;  feet  of,  106. 
Heligoland,  i,  101. 
Heron,  Great  Blue,  2,  114. 
Herons,  food  of,  I,  53,  127;  bills 

of,  97;  story  of  the  hearing  of  a 

heron,  103;  104;  usefulness  to 

man,  127. 

Hirundinidse,  2,  69,  201. 
Humming  Family,  2,  143,  202. 
Hummingbird,  Anna's,  2,  149. 
Hummingbird,     Ruby-throated, 

absence  of  male  from  nest,  i, 

16;  method  of  feeding  young, 

18;  2,  144;  portrait,  I,  18. 
Hummingbirds,  I,  15,  98. 


Icteridse,  2,  94,  201. 
Identification,  I,  137-141. 
Indigo-bird,  i,  47;  portrait,  1, 46. 
Instinct,  I,  83. 
Intelligence,  i,  83-87. 

Japan,  i,  131. 

Jay,  Blue,  learning  to  fly,  i,  31, 
32;  storing  food,  54;  story  of  a 
mischievous,  55,  56;  usefulness 
to  man,  126;  2,  113,  121;  por- 
trait, 2,  122. 

Jay,  Steller's,  2,  126. 

Jays,  2,  117,  202. 

Kindness  of  birds  to  one  another, 

1,  74-77. 

Kingbird,  i,  14,  129;  2,  113,  136; 
portrait,  2,  136. 

Kingbird,  Arkansas,  2,  140. 

Kingfisher,  Belted,  2,  170;  por- 
trait, 2,  170. 

Kingfisher  Family,  2,  170,  203. 

Kingfishers,  i,  21,  115. 

Kinglet,  Ruby-crowned,  2,  14; 
portrait,  2,  14. 

Kinglet  and  Gnatcatcher  Family, 

2,  14,  197. 

Language,  i,  43-47. 
Laniidse,  2,  59,  200. 
Lark,  Desert  Horned,  portrait,  2, 

132. 

Lark,  Horned,  2,  131. 
Lark,  Old-Field.  See  Meadowlark. 
Lark,  Prairie  Horned,  2,  131. 
Lark,  Shore,  2,  131. 
Lark  Family,  2,  131,  202. 
Legs,  i,  92,  105,  107,  108. 

Magpie,  American,  2,  126;  por- 
trait, 2,  126. 


210 


INDEX 


Magpie,  Yellow-billed,  2,  126. 
Magpies,  2,  117. 
Martin,  Purple,  2,  72. 
Meadowlark,  I,  45,  119,  121;  2, 

97,  100;  portrait,  2,  100. 
Meadowlark,  Western,  2,  102. 
Meadow  Starlings,  2,  100. 
Micropodidse,  2,  150,  202. 
Migration,  I,  61-38. 
Mniotiltidse,  2,  49,  200. 
Mocking  Thrushes,  2,  34,  199. 
Mockingbird,  I,  45;  2,  9,  34,  195. 
Motacillidae,  2,  46,  199. 
Moulting,  i,  25,  26,  118. 

Neck,  i,  92. 

Nests,  situations  of,  i,  9;  materi- 
als of,  9,  10;  building  of,  10; 
seldom  used  more  than  once, 
10,  11. 

Nighthawk,  I,  107;  2,  158;  por- 
trait, 2, 158. 

Norway,  i,  131. 

Nuthatch,  European,  2,  21. 

Nuthatch,  Red-breasted,  2,  20. 

Nuthatch,  Slender-billed,  2,  18. 

Nuthatch,  White-breasted,  2, 18; 
portrait,  I,  96. 

Nuthatch  and  Chickadee  Fam- 
ily, 2,  18,  198. 

Nuthatches,  i,  18,  96,  98. 

Observation,  I,  137-141,  145. 

Oil,  I,  117. 

Oriole,  Arizona  Hooded,  2,  108. 

Oriole,  Baltimore,  nest  of,  I,  9, 
95;  2,  104;  portrait,  I,  10. 

Oriole,  Orchard,  2,  107. 

Orioles,  getting  food  for  young,  I, 
18;  teaching  young  to  fly,  33, 
34;  food  of,  50;  affection  for 


young,  78;  usefulness  to  man, 
129;  2,  104. 

Osprey,  American,  2,  190;  por- 
trait, 2,  192. 

Ostrich,  i,  24. 

Ostrich,  South  American,  i,  24. 

Ouzel,  Water,  2, 42;  portrait,  2, 42. 

Oven-bird,  2,  52. 

Owl,  American  Barn,  2,  185. 

Owl,  Barred,  i,  101. 

Owl,  Burrowing,  2,  182. 

Owl,  Florida  Burrowing,  2, 182. 

Owl,  Screech,  2,  180;  portrait, 
2,  180. 

Owl  Family,  2,  178,  204. 

Owls,  I,  35;  food  of,  52,  53,  127; 
ears  of,  103;  feet  of,  106;  use- 
fulness to  man,  126,  127. 

Paridce,  2,  18,  198. 

Penguin,  I,  72. 

Petrel,  I,  110. 

Pewee,  Western  Wood,  2,  142. 

Pewee,  Wood,  i,  47;  2,  136,  140. 

Phainopepla,  2,  67. 

Phoebe,  i,  35;  2,  136. 

Picidse,  2,  160,  203. 

Pigeons,  i,  79,  80. 

Pipit,  Sprague's,  2,  46;  portrait, 
2,46. 

Pipits,  2,  46,  199. 

Plumage,  the  nestling,  I,  22,  23; 
coloration  of,  23,  24,  27,  28; 
moulting,  25,  26,  118;  change 
of  color  without  moulting,  26, 
27,  118-120;  protective  colora- 
tion of,  120,  121;  recognition 
marks  in,  121,  122. 

Poor-will,  2,  157. 

Protection  and  attraction  of 
birds,  x,  131-135. 


INDEX 


211 


Quail  (bob-white),  I,  44.  59. 

Redbird,  2,  88. 

Redstart,  American,  i,  14;  por- 
trait, I,  14. 

Regurgitation,  I,  18,  19. 

Rhea,  I,  24. 

Robin,  American,  arrival,  I,  3, 
10,  15,  17,  18,  21;  plumage  of 
young,  23,  34;  teaching  young 
to  bathe,  38,  39;  notes  of,  44, 
45;  food  of,  49,  126,  127;  roost- 
ing in  flocks,  60;  devotion  to 
young,  78;  story  of  the  intelli- 
gence of  a,  84,  102;  usefulness 
to  men,  126,  127,  129;  2,  5,  6, 
38,  65,  167;  portrait,  2,  60. 

Robin,  Western,  2,  6. 

Sapsucker,  Yellow-bellied,  I,  85. 

Sapsuckers,  tail  of,  I,  113;  2, 
161. 

Scavenger  Family,  2,  194,  204. 

Shrike,  Loggerhead,  2,  59;  por- 
trait, 2,  60. 

Shrike  Family,  2,  59,  200. 

Shrikes,  I,  126. 

Skylark,  Missouri,  2,  46. 

Skylark,  Prairie,  2,  46. 

Sleeping,  I,  57-60. 

Song,  I,  14,  44-47. 

Sparrow,  Chipping,  I,  54. 

Sparrow,  English,  learning  ca- 
nary's song,  I,  46;  young  fed 
by  a  wren,  81,  82;  harmful  ness 
of,  126,  130,  132;  2,  32. 

Sparrow,  Song,  arrival,  1, 3;  nest, 
9;  individuality  in  songs,  45, 
47;  2,  81. 

Sparrow,  Tree,  I,  58,  128. 

Sparrow,  White-throated,  I,  54. 


Sparrow  and  Finch  Family,  2, 

80,  201. 

Sparrows,  I,  84,  97;  2,  80. 
Starlings,  Meadow,  2,  100. 
Stomach,  i,  93. 
Strigidse,  2,  185,  204. 
Swallow,  Bank,  I,  96. 
Swallow,  Barn,  I,  71,  96;  2,  69; 

portrait,  frontispiece. 
Swallow,  Cliff  or  Eave,  I,  71;  2, 

72,  73. 

Swallow  Family,  2,  69,  201. 
Swallows,  food  of,  i,  17,  35,  50; 

flocking,  62, 71 ;  story  of  young, 

75;  story  showing  intelligence, 

85;  wings  of,  110. 
Swift,  Chimney,  sleeping,  I,  59, 

60;  devotion  to  young,  78;  tail 

of,  113;  2,  150. 
Swift,  Vaux's,  2,  150,  152. 
Swift  Family,  2,  150,  202. 
Sylviidse,  2, 14,  197. 

Tail,  i,  112,  113. 
Tanager,  Louisiana,  2,  78. 
Tanager,  Scarlet,   I,  79;  2,  75; 

portraits,  I,  142;  2,  76. 
Tanager,  Summer,  2,  78. 
Tanager  Family,  2,  75,  201. 
Tanagridse,  2,  75,  201. 
Thrasher,  Arizona,  2,  41. 
Thrasher,  Brown,  i,  113;  2,  40; 

portrait,  112. 
Thrush,  Brown.    See  Thrasher, 

Brown. 

Thrush,  Golden-crowned,  2,  52. 
Thrush,  Hermit,  2,  11;  portrait, 

2,10. 

Thrush,  Western  Hermit,  2,  11. 
Thrush,  Wood,  i,  133. 
Thrush  Family,  2,  5,  197. 


212 


INDEX 


Thrushes,  Mocking,  2,  34,  199. 

Titlarks,  2,  46. 

Titmice,  2,  22,  198. 

Titmouse,  Tufted,  2,  24. 

Tongue,  I,  97,  98. 

Towhee,  or   Chewink,  I,  76,  77; 

2,  84;  portrait,  I,  76. 
Towhee,  Spurred,  2,  84. 
Trochilidse,  2, 143,  202. 
Troglodytidse,  2,  30,  199. 
Turdidae,  2,  5,  197. 
Tyrannidte,  2,  135,  202. 

Usefulness  of  birds  to  man,  I, 
125-130. 

Veery,  i,  47. 

Vireo,  Red-eyed,  I,  47. 

Vireo,  Warbling,  2,  57. 

Vireo,  Western  Warbling,  2,  57. 

Vireo,  Yellow-throated,  2, 56,  57; 
portrait,  2,  56. 

Vireo  Family,  2,  55,  200. 

Vireonidae,  2,  55,  200. 

Vulture,  Turkey,  or  Turkey  Buz- 
zard, 1,50,51;  2,  194. 

Vultures,  American,  2,  194,  204. 

Wagtail  Family,  2,  46,  199. 

Warbler,  Black  and  White,  I, 
121;  portrait,  I,  120. 

Warbler,  Yellow,  I,  50;  2,  50. 

Warbler  Family,  2,  49,  200. 

Warblers,  I,  62,  97. 

Water,  birds  in,  I,  94;  for  drink- 
ing and  bathing,  133,  134. 

Water-Thrush,  2,  52. 

Water-Thrush,  Louisiana,  2,  52. 


Waxwing,  Cedar.  See  Cedar-bird 
Waxwing  Family,  2,  63,  200. 
Whip-poor-will,  I,  107,  121;    2, 

155. 

Whip-poor-will,  Nuttall's,  2, 157. 
Wings,  I,  109-112. 
Winter,  birds  in,  I,  66-69. 
Woodcock,  beak  of,  96;  whistling 

sound  of  wings,  111. 
Woodpecker,  Californian,  2,  167. 
Woodpecker,  Downy,   I,  50;  2, 

169;  portrait,  2,  166. 
Woodpecker,  Golden-winged.  See 

Flicker. 
Woodpecker,  Red-headed,  I,  85; 

2,  165. 

Woodpecker,  Yellow-bellied,  1,85. 
Woodpecker  Family,  2,  160,  203. 
Woodpeckers,  I,  18,  21;  teaching 

young  to  feed  itself,  35,   36; 

food  of,  50;  storing  food,  54, 

55;  sleeping,  59,  85,  86;  beaks 

of,  95;  tongues  of,  98;     103; 

feet  of,  106;  tails  of,  113;  2,  19. 
Wren,  House,  I,  81,  82;  2,  31; 

portrait,  I,  80. 
Wren,  Western  House,  2,  31. 
Wrens,  2,  30,  199. 
Wren-Tits,  2,  198. 

Young  birds,  hatching  of,  I,  13- 
15;  feeding  of,  16-20;  first  plu- 
mage of,  21-23;  learning  to  fly, 
29-34,  37-39;  the  mother's 
anxiety  about,  30-32;  learning 
to  feed  themselves,  34-36,  39; 
learning  to  sing,  36;  after  leav- 
ing the  nest,  70-73. 


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